Her Father's Second Wife
by maramouse
Summary: Her grandmother called Lorelai promiscuous. Her mother thought the divorce was the worst decision her father had ever made. Her sister was always vague about her. Her father never mentioned her. This Christmas, Gigi Hayden discovers the truth. LL, not LC!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Okay, I am officially off my rocker. Writing a story about Gigi and Christopher, probably two of my fellow Java Junkie's least favorite characters (with the exception of Anna Nardini)? Believe me, I didn't intend to do this, either. I'm assuming that due to this subject matter, I'm either going to have lots and lots of readers, who are weirded out by the premise, or none at all. I'm betting on the latter.

This takes place when Gigi is thirteen and is a companion fic to my other story, "Blue Eyes and Coffee" (which in turn is set in the same universe as my other fics, "Where There's A Will" and "Star's Cross Lovers"). Let's call it "Torturing Lorelai's Exes: Part Two". Naturally, this one is all about Christopher, but also Gigi. I admit, I had entirely too much fun writing the cynical, priviledged teenage girl. I know we all hated Gigi for being the spawn of Christopher (and come on, would we really like a little monster screaming bloody murder and drawing on our floor with permanent marker?), but you also have to feel bad for her. Think about it: she has a mother who abandoned her, who lives in Paris; a crazy, stuck-up grandmother, far worse than the elder Gilmores; and Christopher for a father (enough said). Her first four years of live certainly weren't a piece of cake, which this story gets into.

This is going to be about three chapters long. It's a little late for Christmas, but as Sherry might say, "C'est la vie." Ha (ignore that corny French reference!). Once again, I am using my little JJ spawn, Will and Lucy. Although Rory probably WOULD be married by now, for the sake of this story, we're going to pretend that she's been so focused on her career that she hasn't yet. I make a reference to her dating someone serious, but I'm not going to mention "who" that is. Jess, Rogan, an OC, Dean or Marty, I don't care! I don't really want to get into Rory shipping wars, so you guys can put her with whoever you like.

Oh, and I've never been to the NYC Fao Schwarz-nor do I know what it will look like in the future. So forgive me if the layout of the store is completely wrong.

And no, I don't own _Gilmore Girls_. I own Lucy and Will, but not their parents or their family. And I don't own the Haydens (thank God!) either.

* * *

Fao Schwarz was flooded. New York City's most famous toy store was filled to the brim with children, so crowded that it was difficult to move around. It was no wonder. The date was December twenty-third, and many families had decided that it was a perfect day to do some shopping. Those who weren't doing last minute shopping were treating their children or getting last minute gifts by observing what toys their children were interested in and sneaking out to buy them when their children's backs were turned.

Only one girl, not including a few crying babies who were too young to be impressed with toys, didn't look so happy to be milling about. She had long, thick blonde hair that was tied back into an Alice in Wonderland half pony, and narrowed blue eyes. She wore more blush, lipgloss, and eyeliner than was necessary at her age, a bright pink sweater, and Abercrombie skinny jeans. Swung over her shoulder was a pink Louis Vuitton purse. A scowl was plastered on her face.

She was almost fourteen, far too old to be shopping in a children's store, and all she wanted was a chance to go to Bloomingdale's and Macy's. She had already told her best friend, Natasha, all about her shopping opportunity, and besides, she was going to Paris next week. She didn't need her mother to get into yet another rant about the clothes she was wearing. Although she never minded getting a chance to shop (especially in Paris, of all places!), she was sick of her mother picking on her father. No matter how flawed her father was, at least he had not abandoned her when she was less than two years old.

Then again, at least her mother, who had remarried, had been smart enough not to date a younger woman, with possibly the brattiest children on the planet.

The girl cringed when her father turned to her. He was holding a stuffed puppy dog in his hands. The dog had brown and black spots and was made of soft plush fabric. "Gigi, what do you think? Bradley likes dogs, doesn't he?"

"It's okay," Gigi said flatly. She hated her name. Though "Gigi" was certainly better than her full name, "Georgia," (what kind of parents would name their kid after a state?) she still hated how perky and unrefined the name sounded. Last year, Stephen Yarrington had told her that her name reminded her of a French poodle, and Gigi was inclined to agree. It was clear that even before she was born, her mother had been plotting her French escape.

Her father frowned. "You sure? Do little boys like stuffed animals or is that a little girl thing?"

Gigi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _God, can he be anymore clueless? He was a little boy once, and I wasn't, so how am _I_ supposed to know what little boys like? _

"I don't think it matters," said Gigi, reminding herself that the sooner they got presents, the sooner they would have a chance to shop for her things. "Give them both stuffed animals. They won't care."

"But Jane told me that Brie specifically requested one of those brat dolls. I was hoping you could help me pick one out."

"Let's just get them both stuffed animals and go. Brie could stand not to get her way all the time. The way both of those kids whine whenever they don't get what they want is obnoxious. They sound two screeching banshees or something." Her friend Caitlin, who was Irish, had told her all about banshees, and Gigi had never heard a more awful sound than Bradley's or Brie's screams.

Too late, she realized she had said the wrong thing. Her father's gaze was so intense that she knew a lecture was on the way. "Georgia Hayden, need I remind you how good to you Jane has been? She didn't have to invite both of us for Christmas, but she did. She even invited your grandmother, and even though she isn't coming, we both know Jane most certainly didn't have to do that. She bought you a birthday present last year-which you didn't even thank her for, I might add-and I can tell you now that she went to great lengths picking out a Christmas gift that I know you'll like. The least you can do is talk nicely about the woman who might become your future stepmother."

"If you propose to Jane, I'll move to Paris," Gigi said. Deep down, she knew it was an empty threat, because there was no way her own mother would want her daughter-the very reason for her first failed marriage (Gigi had done the math)-to come live with her and ruin her perfect life. Their week together during the Christmas holidays, occasional week during spring break, and six weeks during the summer were enough. Still, Gigi would rather die than live with Jane and her two monsters.

Her father had met Jane about a year ago during a business trip to New York City, and the two managed to see each other every time her dad visited New York City. Fortunately, Gigi did not have to come with them every time. There was an advantage to having a live-in grandmother, even one as conceited and judgmental as Francine Hayden. When Gigi was five, her father had decided to move back to Boston, after a year in Hartford prior to failed marriage number two, and Gigi's grandmother had come with them. She had protested at first, but she had managed to find the same snobby society that she had left behind in Hartford. That was where she was now, spending her days at various holiday parties and functions. Apparently, it was incredibly bad manners to miss the Edward's annual Christmas party. If only Gigi had also been invited.

Her father let out a sigh, speaking in his "You're being irrational" voice. "Gigi…"

"I will. I'll ask Mom when I visit her next week. I mean it. There's no way in hell that I'm living with those two spoiled monsters. God, someone needs to get those kids on medication. I'm serious."

"Gigi, language. And need I remind you what you were like as a child? You weren't a perfect angel, either."

"Well, at least I didn't scream bloody murder until I got my way."

"No. You just screamed whenever you felt like it."

Before Gigi could retort, her father's cell phone rang. She only had to look at her father's face to see who it was. "Gigi, I need to take this," said her father, as the phone rang once again. "I'm going to be outside. Can you find some gifts for Bradley and Brie while I take this? I promise I'll come find you the moment I'm done."

"But…" Gigi said, knowing how long her father's phone calls for work took. Her father leaned down to kiss her head, picked up the phone, and left the room, without giving her a chance to finish.

Gigi wandered around the toy store, bored. She was still carrying the stuffed dog, as she was not about to take the effort to find Bradley another gift. It was odd to see everyone in such a festive spirit. She was indifferent as far as Christmas went. Once-upon-a-time, Gigi had enjoyed Christmas, but those days were long over. Now, Christmas was just another over commercialized holiday that forced her to spend time with not one, but both of her parents. In fact, the only Christmas she had really enjoyed was Christmas of 2006, and that was pretty pathetic, considering it was during her father's sham of a marriage, number two. Honestly, less than two months was pathetic. What kind of idiot married their daughter's (who had been conceived at the grand age of sixteen) mother, no less than twenty-two years after the said daughter had been born? Gigi snorted. Probably the same idiot who apparently didn't know how to use a condom. Evelyn Ward had snuck a condom to Natasha's fourteenth birthday party, and it certainly didn't look very hard to use. Not that Gigi planned on being in a situation where she would be required to use one for a long, long time. Her grandmother had been pushing Princeton for Gigi's entire life, and Francine Hayden was not the kind of person someone disobeyed. Condoms or no condoms, Gigi was not about to have sex and risk being the second person to insult the Hayden's family name.

She had just succeeded in walking in circles around the stuffed animal section two times, when Gigi found herself being tapped on the arm. Looking down, she found herself staring at a little girl, around six or seven, with brown curly hair and blue eyes. Her hair was tied back into two pigtails, illuminating her round face. She was kind of cute, Gigi guessed. Cuter than Brie, who was about the same age, at any rate. _God_, why in the world did her father have to date a woman, a good fifteen years younger than he was?

"Where did you get that?"

It took a few moments for Gigi to realize that the little girl was referring to the stuffed dog, still in her arms. "Oh, it was over there, but never mind-you can have it." She tossed the dog to the little girl, who looked up at her wide eyes. She had pretty blue eyes. Certainly better than Gigi's average ones, at any rate.

"Are you sure?" said the little girl in a hushed voice, still staring at her.

"Positive. I don't need it. I'll just have to find something else, but hey, little boys probably don't want stuffed dogs, anyway."

The little girl frowned, but Gigi was saved from answering by the appearance of a tall, brunette woman. She was holding the hand of a boy, perhaps a few years older than the girl, who had tousled brown hair. The woman's and little girl's hair and blue eyes were identical, giving Gigi reason to suspect that the woman was the little girl's mother. She seemed almost familiar, but Gigi could not place why. _Anyway, if I had seen another grown woman, my father's age, with a shirt with a giant Hello Kitty on it, I would have definitely remembered. The last time I wore Hello Kitty shirts, I was this little girl's age._

"Lucy, were you talking to this girl here?" said the woman to the little girl. When the little girl-_Lucy_-nodded, the woman sighed. She turned to Gigi, causing Gigi to wonder again why she looked so familiar. "I'm so sorry about that. I hope my daughter wasn't bothering you. Lucy still hasn't learned not to talk to strangers. God knows, everyone has been trying to teach her better, but when you're a small town girl who happens to be one of the children of the 'best romance our town has ever seen,' according to Babette and Miss Patty, _and_ you've inherited your mother's outgoing nature, I guess talking to strangers is pretty inevitable."

"It's okay," said Gigi, amused by the woman's antics. "She wasn't bothering me at all. My dad's girlfriend's kids are about her age, and your daughter isn't anything like them. I know what bratty little kids are like, and your daughter doesn't come anywhere close."

"Well, having seen my share of bratty children, I'll definitely take that as a compliment," the woman joked, pulling both of her children close to her. "I definitely wouldn't want anyone to categorize Lucy or Will in the 'bratty' category." Gigi found herself cracking a smile, wondering if the woman had dealt with kids as bratty as Bradley and Brie.

The woman looked down at Lucy, who was hugging the stuffed dog close to her. "Lucy, where did you get that? I didn't see you holding that earlier."

"That's what I was asking the girl about," said Lucy, with an air of impatience. "She was holding the dog, and when I asked her where she got it from, she gave it to me! I've decided I want it to be my early Christmas present."

The woman studied Gigi for a few moments. Gigi squirmed, uncomfortable under the intensity scrutiny of her gaze, but she was rewarded when the woman began to smile. Turning to her kids, she said, "Lucy and Will, do you mind if I steal, um-" She waved her hands, clearly not knowing what to call her.

"Gigi," Gigi supplied.

"Gigi," the woman repeated with a slight laugh. "God, I haven't heard that name used in a long time."

"I hate my name," Gigi informed her, used to this reaction whenever she told people her name. "It makes me sound like a French poodle or something. Whatever you have to say about it, don't feel bad."

The woman chuckled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, you're not the only 'Gigi' I've come across. Hey, do you know there's a musical movie called _Gigi_? You're in good company, my friend. There's even a title song with your name in it."

"I've heard of it, but I haven't actually seen it."

"Well, make your parents rent it. Believe me, I'm sure at least one of your parents has experienced the wonder that is Lerner and Loewe. And if they haven't, they are seriously deprived."

"I love _My Fair Lady_," Lucy said, as her brother rolled his eyes.

"My daughter is a little Broadway star in the making," the woman explained to Gigi's confusion. "My son and husband, not so much, but that's okay, we'll make two Broadway babies out of them." She turned back to her children. "Anyway, do either of you mind if I steal Gigi for just a few seconds? I'll be back soon, I promise."

When both of her children shook their heads, the woman led Gigi behind a rack of plush rabbits, several feet away. Gigi frowned, wondering what the woman was getting at. In a hushed voice, the woman asked, "Do you have any experience with babysitting?"

"Well, yes, I do it back home, and I've had to babysit the brat children I told you about before," said Gigi. She studied the woman's expression. "Why?"

"Do you think you could look after my kids-my daughter's name is Lucy, and my son is Will-for just a few minutes?"

As Gigi continued to stare at her, the woman sighed. "See, while I know it is completely and utterly irresponsible to leave Christmas shopping for the Eve of Christmas Eve, I really don't have a choice. I bought Will's lego castle and Lucy's Barbie Dream House, but what do you know, my parents beat me to do it. Damn their tradition of having an early Christmas party and thus giving their gifts two weeks early, or else it would have my parents suffering, not me. I swear, I think they do things like this on purpose. Anyway, I've been planning on sneaking here to do some shopping while we visit my eldest daughter in New York City, but what do you know, my husband accidentally reveals my destination, and suddenly, I've got two kids begging me to go with me. I think Will's pretty much figured out that since he's here, he might get an early peek at his Christmas gifts, but I told Lucy I was shopping for her cousin, and she's so blinded by toys that that she didn't ask any further questions. Anyway, I would have said no, but see, as my husband so helpfully reminded me, it is pretty darn hard to say no to the pout that both kids happen to have inherited from me, though Lucy's is far, far worse, and well, that's where you come in. I was wondering if you could keep Lucy and Will preoccupied for a few minutes, while I sneak out their presents to the register, get them gift wrapped, grab Lucy and Will, buy the gifts I promised them for now, and go about our merry way."

Gigi struggled to take in this story. "Do you have any idea what you're going to get them?" she said finally.

The woman nodded. "I'm getting Lucy a horse stable and horse to go with it, and Will an electronic car. Assuming I can find them here, I mean. With my luck, everything's sold out." Seeing Gigi's hesitation, she made her eyes a little wider. "Please? I'm really in a fix here. I normally trust Will to look after Lucy, but since we're in a big city, that's not something I'm really comfortable with. I promise to compensate you or something; is five dollars good?"

"It's really fine," Gigi said, snapping out of her mood. While it was true she had anticipated a quieter stay at Fao Schwarz, sulking was not about to do her any good. "As long as your kids aren't bratty, I don't need any compensation. Maybe your son can even help me figure out what to buy Bratty Child Number Two. Brie, the girl, wants a Bratz doll, but I have no idea what to get Bradley, the boy. My father suggested the stuffed dog I gave to your daughter, but now that I have a real life little boy to help me, I can find something better."

"Well, as long as it's even trade, then we'll let the money go," the woman said. "Really, thanks for doing this. You're a life saver." As they began to walk towards Lucy and Will, who were checking out another rack of stuffed animals, the woman turned to Gigi again. "By the way, where are your parents? You're not alone, are you?"

"I'm not, but my dad is outside taking a business call," Gigi said. "He left finding the presents to me. He won't mind that I'm looking after your kids, though. He'll probably think that spending time with other random kids means I'm ready to bond with Brie and Bradley."

"Well, as long as your dad's cool with it, I am too," said the woman. By now, they had reached the rack the children were standing out. She motioned to Will and Lucy, who were looking at them. "Will, Lucy, this is Gigi. She's going to look after you, while I do an errand, okay?" Seeing that Will's eyes had narrowed, she added, "And don't you _dare _think about following me. I'll meet you back here when we're both finished."

When the woman left, Gigi turned to Will and Lucy, hoping to distract them. Though she knew such observations were snobbish, she was taken aback by the simple jeans and winter coats they were wearing. It had been a long time since she had come across children who didn't wear clothes that had been imported from England or France.

Shaking these thoughts aside, she motioned to Will. "So, Will, I was actually hoping that you could do me a favor. How old are you?"

Lucy spoke before Will had a chance to. "He's eight, and I'm six, almost seven. My birthday's in February."

"Well, six and a half is a great age to be," said Gigi. Will had begun to glare at his sister, who gave him a wide smile in return. "Anyway, Will, about that favor. I need to buy gifts for those two kids I know. The girl, Brie, who's seven, wants a Bratz doll, so Lucy, you don't need to help me there, but I'm not sure what to get the boy, Bradley, who's four. Since you're a boy, I was hoping you could help me."

Will nodded thoughtfully. She was quickly seeing that though Lucy was clearly the outgoing one in her family, Will was more studious and reserved. "Well, you could always buy him a train set. I started to like trains at that age."

"That's a good idea," said Gigi. "Could you take me to find one?"

She prayed fervently that the trains weren't in the same direction their mother had disappeared off to, but to her relief, Will pointed to the opposite direction. "It works too, because Mom promised us we could both pick out one early Christmas present, and I still need to find mine," he told her. "I wasn't about to find one in one of those girly aisles, anyway."

"Hey!" said Lucy, sticking out her tongue. Will stuck out his back.

As they made their way to get the toy trains, Gigi found herself increasingly charmed by the brother/sister pair. Brie and Bradley mostly fought whenever she was around, but despite normal sibling rivalry, Will and Lucy actually seemed to enjoy each other's presence.

She sometimes wished that she had another sibling. Though she did have a half-sister, who was eighteen years older, that was very different than a live-in sibling. Besides, she rarely saw Rory, anyway. Even though Rory lived in New York City, they were not even visiting Rory this time around. Gigi was sketchy on the details, but she suspected Rory was either visiting her mother and her family or the other way around.

"We're here," said Will, when they reached the section with the toy trains. "There are cheap plastic ones and more expensive, real looking ones. Probably since he's four, you want to pick out one of the plastic ones."

"That's a good idea," said Gigi. "Pick out whatever one you think he'd like." Will took a few minutes before selecting a yellow train set, which he handed to Gigi.

"Hey, you know as long as we're here, I'm going to pick out some more tracks for my trains," Will said. "I'm beginning to run out of them."

"That sounds good," Gigi said. "Take as long as you need. Your sister and I will be right here."

As Will struggled to find the right train tracks, Lucy turned to Gigi. "Where are your parents?" Lucy asked. "Did you come here all alone?"

Gigi flinched. Even after years of being asked this question, answering had not gotten any easier. "My dad's taking a business call outside. My mom lives in Paris."

"Paris!" The little girl's eyes widened. "Do you hear that, Will? Gigi's mom lives in Paris!"

"I heard," said Will distractedly, his back still towards them as he continued to pick out train tracks.

"You're lucky to have gone to Paris," said Lucy. "Ever since I saw _The Aristocats_, I've wanted to go. My mom says there are lots of poodles in Paris, and I love poodles. I want a poodle, but we already have a dog, and my daddy says we can't have another one. I still want to see the poodles in Paris, though. My mom a, um, saying about poodles, and I've always wanted to say it."

"A saying, huh?" said Gigi, privately thinking that she had never seen that many poodles in Paris. "What is it?"

Lucy puffed out her little chest before she spoke. "'Oy with the poodles already.'"

Gigi blinked. "'Oy with the poodles already.' That's a very, uh, interesting saying."

"Our mother is crazy," said Will, without turning around.

"She is," said Lucy, giggling. "That's why I'd have to travel to Paris to say it-Mommy says it for no reason sometimes, but then people look at her funny. I usually say it whenever we see Kirk at his dog walking business, but it doesn't make sense, cause Kirk has no poodles. If we ever get a poodle, I want to name her Mimi. It was Mommy's suggestion, and I like it. Either that or Belle, cause that means 'beautiful' in French, which is why Belle the princess is named that, and it makes sense for a poodle to have a French name."

"That it does," said Gigi. She looked around, hoping that her father or the children's mother would appear, but neither did. Biting her lip, she turned her attention back to Lucy. As much as she was enjoying the little girl's enthusiasm, it was tiresome keeping up with her.

"Do you speak French?" Lucy was asking.

"Un peu," said Gigi. When Lucy frowned, she said, "That means 'a little'. My mother is teaching me French, and I'm taking it in school, but I'm not fluent yet."

"I can say 'hi' in French," Lucy said. "My mom taught me after saw _The Aristocats_."

"Really?" said Gigi. Lucy nodded and raised her neck.

"Bonjour," she said importantly.

Gigi's heart skipped a beat. Something about that little phrase-_Bonjour_-was familiar, somehow. She had heard the word at least a thousand times, but some combination about Lucy being taught the word by her mother and Lucy's American accent made her head spin. God, what in the world was she trying to remember? And what about this time had triggered the memory, when saying "Bonjour" was as natural to Gigi as saying the word in English?

_You're being ridiculous, _she told herself. _It's just a simple word. That's all._

Luckily, before Gigi had more of a chance to process this, Will finished picking out his train tracks, and they moved on to picking out Brie's Bratz doll. With the help of Lucy, who did not have a Bratz doll herself and was very fascinated by the doll's huge lips and eyes, Gigi picked out Chloe, since Brie was also blonde. They then made their way back to the stuffed animal section, where they had agreed to meet Will and Lucy's mother. Evidently, their mother had had a harder time finding gifts than she'd anticipated, because she was not yet there.

"Do you live in New York City?" said Lucy, while they were waiting.

Gigi shook her head. From what Lucy's mother had said, she'd deduced that Lucy and Will were also visiting New York. "I live in Boston, Massachusetts."

"What are you doing here then?"

"My dad's girlfriend lives here." Realizing how strange that sounded to two children whose parents were probably together, Gigi added, "Actually, my older sister lives here too. Well, half sister, really. We have the same dad, but not the same mom."

"Oh, Will and I have two older half sisters too," said Lucy. "One of them is our dad's daughter and the other is our mom's. We're visiting Rory right now."

Gigi almost choked. She felt a thousand butterflies squirming in her stomach, as she looked at Lucy. "What did you say?" she asked softly.

"We're visiting our older sister," Lucy said, clearly not understanding Gigi's reaction. "Why?"

"No, I mean-your older sister, the one who you're visiting now-what's her name?"

"Rory," said Lucy. When Gigi coughed, she peered at Gigi closer. "Are you okay?"

"I'm-I'm fine," said Gigi, placing her hand to her cheek and realizing how warm she'd gotten. "It's just that my older sister is named Rory, too."

"Ooh, that's weird," said Lucy, but Will had met her eyes. In an expression filled with more depth than she would have expected from an eight-year-old, Gigi realized that Will understood, too. Lucy might have remembered things like her mother's favorite saying and how to say "hello" in French, but Will clearly remembered more important information.

Like, for instance, the name of his older sister's other half sister.

All at once, Gigi realized three things: one, why their mother looked so familiar. Two, the reason for her flashback after hearing Lucy say the word "Bonjour".

And three, that though she had never seen Will face-to-face, in a way, she had met sort of met him before.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: WOW! I am absolutely flooded by all of your responses! I can't thank you guys enough. I guess people are interested in the story of Gigi Hayden, after all. ;) There should be one more chapter after this. Your reviews have been really helpful in helping me figure out how I'm going to end it. Apologies that there's been a little bit of a wait for me to get this up...I'm actually visiting Boston now, so I thought it would be appropriate to post this in what I like to call "the city of Christopher" (believe me, I've been making jokes about it all day).

This chapter here gives us some insight into Gigi's last encounter with Lorelai that, though not dramatic by our stands, had a big effect on the then five-year-old girl. We'll also get a chance to see her mixed feelings about Lorelai over the years; hopefully, I did a good job explaining that why, even though Gigi's feelings are not rational, she has them. I am also planning on including Gigi's flashback scene where she sees Lorelai again in my other fic, "There's A Will" (I want to say it's about four chapters away). As you can see by my constant using of Lucy and Will, I'm not exactly very original, so apologies in advance for recycling. It will, however, be in Lorelai's POV, and will go in a completely different direction than Gigi's POV.

Also, a few of you were taken by Will's reaction to Gigi, upon realizing who she was, so I admit: I probably made it more of a big deal than I should have. I simply see him as an insightful little boy who's mature and insightful for his age (actually, a lot like me at that age) and that he's probably heard stories about how Gigi is his mom's ex-husband's kid, and that Lucy, in contrast, is more fun living and "live in the moment" (and younger), so that she doesn't connect that Gigi is the daughter of her mom's ex-husband (and Rory's father). Like his dad, Will is fiercely protective of his family (though in a cute, little boy way!), and he already can kind of understand the awkwardness of his mom seeing her ex-husband's kid again. I imagine I would have been protective of my mom if I had met her ex-husband at the same age. Also, if you've read "Blue Eyes and Coffee," which this fic is a companion to, Will has already met another one of his mom's exes earlier in the year (Max), and so he already has an idea of how awkward the "ex's" situation is (you don't see Will and Lucy finding out that Max is any more of than Rory's old teacher in "Blue Eyes and Coffee," but let's just presume their parents told them eventually). I might got into Will's reaction more, but chances are, I won't. So, I'm sorry if I mislead you into thinking Will knows something more than he does.

Anyway, without further ado, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

The first five years of Gigi Hayden's life had been filled with more chaos than most kids'. Even in the months before Gigi's birth, there had been drama. Drama between her father's obligation between the girlfriend he'd impregnated and his first love, who he also shared a daughter with, and drama between her mother's dedication to her career and the daughter she hadn't planned on having. Gigi coming too early had only been the icing on the cake. Though Sherry was outwardly sweet and perky, Gigi had never gone a single day without being distinctly aware of what a disappointment she was to her mother. From coming out early to occasionally mispronouncing French words, Gigi knew that she had made her mother's life infinitely more complicated-and that Sherry did not like that, one bit.

Of course, after Gigi was born, things just got worse. Her father was gone all the time for work, and her mother, finally unable to deal with Gigi, took off to Paris when her daughter was less than two-years-old. A spoiled Gigi went through countless nannies, and just when Gigi was beginning to become disciplined, he married his old flame and first daughter's mother, Lorelai Gilmore. This was the part of the story Gigi tried hard to forget.

Whenever she thought of Lorelai Gilmore, she remembered an encounter about a year after the infamous divorce. It was shortly before they moved back to Boston, and Gigi and her grandmother had been sitting down to dinner at the Hartford Cheesecake Factory. Though Francine Hayden absolutely despised chains, Gigi had had her heart set on a piece of peanut butter cup cheesecake, and after a lecture from her son (though he had been bad at standing up to his father, Christopher was a little better at standing up to her mother), Francine had relented and taken her. It helped that though nowhere as bad as they had been a few years ago, Gigi's tantrums had returned since the divorce.

Gigi had been coloring on her menu, as her grandmother continued to survey the restaurant with disapproval, when she suddenly looked up and noticed the trio of people waiting to be seated at the cash register. Without a single hesitation (it can be said that just as Lucy had inherited her mother's outgoing nature, Gigi had also inherited her father's impulsiveness), Gigi jumped up and approached them. "Lorelai!"

To say Lorelai had been surprised to see Gigi would have been an understatement, but at that moment, the only thing Gigi was concentrating on was the reappearance of her former stepmother. As she flung her arms around Lorelai, Gigi, in the same way she would at thirteen, became aware of three distinct things: one, from her table, her grandmother was eyeing her with disgust. Two, the two people Lorelai was with were a girl, about fourteen or fifteen, and a man, who was wearing a blue backwards baseball cap. Three, Lorelai's stomach had doubled in size since Gigi had last seen her.

Gigi fixated her attention on Lorelai's stomach first. Having not yet learned that it was impolite to say everything that came to mind, she spoke without thinking. "You're fatter," she said matter-of-factly.

Lorelai chuckled. By now, Francine Hayden had also noticed the size of Lorelai's stomach and was gaping at her. "You know, Gigi, now might be the chance to introduce you to some friends of mine," Lorelai said, motioning to the two people standing besides her. "This is April, my stepdaughter…and this is Luke, my-my husband." She took a deep breath, seeking out Luke. "Luke, April, this is…"

"I know who she is, Lorelai," Luke said, in an unreadable tone. "Her father didn't completely keep her in hiding, you know."

"Right." Lorelai let out her breath. "Anyway, Gigi, the reason I've gained weight is because Luke and I are having a baby. I'm sure you already know this, but pregnant women grow babies inside them until they come out, after nine months of staying in their mommy's stomachs. This little boy-it's a boy that we're having-is going to be Rory's brother."

Gigi took a few minutes to take this in. Lorelai, married to someone who wasn't her father? Lorelai, having a baby? It simply could not be true! "If Rory is this baby's brother, and I'm her sister, then is the baby my brother too?" she said, clinging to the hope that she might still be connected to the baby somehow.

"Oh, sweetie…" Lorelai sighed and touched Gigi's shoulder. "No, this baby is just related to Rory. You and Rory are half-sisters because you both have the same dad, and Rory and this baby are going to be half-siblings because of me. You're not technically related."

The girl spoke up, in what she plainly thought was a helpful tone. Gigi just thought it was condescending and obnoxious. She hated it when older people acted like they were so much smarter. "In some ways, this baby is going to be related to me in the same way Rory is to you. I'm going to this baby's half-sister, because we both have the same father, just like you and Rory do."

Gigi glared at the girl. "I was Lorelai's stepdaughter first," she informed her.

The girl squirmed. "Well, I'm sure that's true, but…"

"Georgia Hayden!" squawked her grandmother. A tight expression formed on Lorelai's face. When a stubborn Gigi ignored her, Francine stood up and walked towards them. Without looking at Luke, Lorelai, or April, Francine put her hands on her shoulder. "Gigi, come with me. Now."

A helpless Gigi could only wave as her grandmother forced her to sit back in her chair. Once Lorelai, Luke, and April had been shown their table in another area of the restaurant, Francine began to speak. Though she was muttering under her breath, Gigi could still hear her very clearly. "Only a year after the divorce with my son, and that Lorelai shows up pregnant. Pregnant! I'm surprised the gossip didn't reach me about this one. God knows, it's a good thing that Lorelai is finally out of Christopher's life. She's always been bad news, and she's just gotten worse as time's gone on."

"Grandma, what are you talking about?" said Gigi, looking up from her coloring. Her grandmother pursed her lips.

Looking Gigi right in the eye, she said, "Georgia Hayden, you must promise never to speak to Lorelai if you see her again. She's a harlot, and I refuse to let her teach anything to my granddaughter."

"A harlot?" Gigi repeated. While she did not know the meaning of the words, she deduced from her grandmother's tone that "a harlot" was something bad.

"A very bad woman," said Francine, without taking her eyes off of Gigi. Gigi frowned.

"But I like Lorelai. She's nice."

"Georgia Hayden, you will do as I say, and that isn't debatable."

While ordinarily, Gigi had no trouble talking back to get what she wanted, something about the intensity of her grandmother's gaze told her that arguing wasn't such a good idea. "I promise," she said quietly.

Over the years, Lorelai Gilmore's name had continued to be mentioned from time-to-time. Whenever Gigi or her father brought up Rory, Francine would always make a disparaging remark about how she hoped Rory wasn't following the path of her mother (she seemed to forget that Rory was her granddaughter, too). Whenever the topic of premarital sex or babies born out of wedlock was discussed, Lorelai Gilmore was also mentioned (once again, Francine seemed to forget that Lorelai hadn't been the only one responsible for a baby who was born out of wedlock). Though Gigi had not known what a "harlot" meant at five, by the time she was older, she had a good grasp on what the word meant.

Her mother had mentioned Lorelai sometimes, too. Though this was more infrequent, whenever the subject of Lorelai did come up, Sherry always mused her own thoughts about Christopher and Lorelai's relationship. "They were perfect for each other," she had said to Gigi on more than one occasion. "Your father was an idiot for letting her go. He's always had feelings for Lorelai, and it's clear he always will." Though Gigi, parroting her grandmother's words, had protested that it was Lorelai who broke up with her father and that he was better off without Lorelai in his life, Sherry only shook her head. With a click on her tongue, she had pushed aside Gigi's observations in the same way she pushed away all of Gigi's other remarks.

The one person who never mentioned Lorelai was Gigi's father. Even when they visited Rory and he asked how her mother was doing, it seemed to take all of his strength to ask that simple question. Though Rory answered him, she never offered much information beyond a simple "She's good." Though Gigi knew Rory had two other half siblings, she had never even known their names or the youngest child's gender-or, at least, she had not remembered on purpose.

In her deepest of hearts, Gigi knew that her grandmother was wrong. Though she had been less than four-years-old at the time, Gigi still remembered Lorelai and her father's marriage and courtship remarkably well. Those six months had been filled with so much confusion. For one thing, Gigi could still remember how nervous she had been to see her mother, after two years without any contact with her. She could also remember her confusion at being thrust into a new town and household upon coming back from France, then being forced back into yet another home less than two months later.

But despite all of the pain and confusion, she had had Lorelai. Lorelai had tried her best to explain about Sherry in a way a three-and-a-half-year-old would understand. Despite Gigi's tantrum the first time Lorelai had babysat her, Gigi soon found herself warming up to Lorelai's presence. Lorelai had brushed her hair and watched movies with her. Lorelai had been fun to be around.

As a little girl used to nannies more concerned with money than their client, Gigi had never met anyone like Lorelai. Lorelai was a real mother, something Gigi had never had before-and, in a sense, would never have, even with Sherry. _Lorelai_ was genuine. She let Gigi be herself, but she didn't let her go without discipline, either. _She _was real.

Still, after Gigi found herself at her grandmother's old home in Hartford, one fact stuck out in her mind: Lorelai had never bothered to say goodbye.

Gigi certainly wasn't one for analyzing herself. She preferred keeping her more vulnerable emotions at a distance, and whenever she felt sad or angry, she concentrating on socializing or throwing herself into her studies. Her classmates saw her as outgoing, popular, funny, and often cynical, and Gigi relished that facade. They didn't know the real reason her mother lived all in the way in Paris and why Gigi lived with her father and not her mother, and for that, Gigi was grateful. She had not even told her best friend, Natasha, the extent of the truth. She doubted she ever would. Truths were often more painful to admit.

Still, if Gigi had analyzed herself, she would have come to the conclusion that part of the reason she believed her grandmother's accusations about Lorelai was because it soothed her own pain that in divorcing her father, Lorelai had abandoned Gigi. She had also inadvertently placed some of her anger at her mother on Lorelai. Though Gigi was fully aware that her mother had missed two years of her life, she had never come face-to-face with the extent of that anger, either. It was easier to transfer her feelings about abandonment on Lorelai than to admit how crappy of a mom Sherry really was.

Nevertheless, Gigi had not come to these realizations herself. She was almost fourteen-years-old, and teenagers did not undergo psychosis on themselves. Instead, they gossiped about boys and shopped-which was exactly what Gigi planned to do as soon as her father reappeared.

* * *

Gigi continued to stare at Will. His eyes were locked onto hers, widened with more surprise and depth than she had expected from an eight-year-old. Her heart was still racing. She had expected lots of things in her trip to New York, but she had not expected this.

Lucy, meanwhile, was staring at them. "What?" she said. _"What?"_

Will tore his gaze away from Gigi. "Luce, you remember how Rory has another sister? Besides you and April, I mean?"

"Yeah." Lucy's scrunched up her eyebrows, confused. "So…?"

"Well…" Will, clearly at a loss for what to say, pointed at Gigi. "I think," he added.

Lucy, who plainly had not heard Will's last statement, gaped at Gigi. "_You're _Rory's other sister?" she said in surprise. When Gigi nodded, she grinned. "Oh, that's so cool! Rory's talked about you, but I've never met you! That even means we're kinda related! You're Rory's sister, and I'm Rory's sister, so we're kinda both sisters too."

"No," said Gigi with more volume than she'd intended, "we're not." Will and Lucy both stepped back at these words, and even Gigi was startled by the bitterness of her tone. In a slightly calmer voice, she said, "Rory and I are related through my dad, and since my dad's not your dad, we're not related, either. We're not sisters," she said again, firmer. "We're not."

Sensing that Gigi was on the verge of tears, Lucy touched her arm, but Gigi shrugged her off. Without looking at either of the kids, she said, "Do you think you'll be okay standing here while you wait for your mom, for just a few minutes? I'm-I'm really sorry, and tell your mom that I know I suck for doing this, but there's something…there's something I need to do. My dad's outside, and I-I need to talk to him."

Frowning, Will asked, "Do you need us to carry your presents, if your dad's outside, so you don't get into trouble for shoplifting or whatever?"

She half handed, half thrust Will the Bratz doll and train package. "Yes. Thank you. I'll be only a few minutes."

Without returning the half-hearted wave that Lucy gave her, Gigi rushed out of the store. A few minutes later, she was hit by the blast of December air, upon coming face-to-face with the cold outside. Her father stood to the side of the store, still talking, seemingly oblivious to the harshness of the weather.

Normally, Gigi would have paid attention to the "Wait" signals her dad was sending her, but today was different. She glared at her father. "God, do you have any idea how long you left me there? You said it was going to be a short call! Not that I know why I listened to you. I mean, all you ever do is break promises, so why the hell should this time be any different?"

Christopher cleared his throat and spoke to the person on the phone. "Excuse me, Jim. I'll be just a minute." Covering the phone with his hand, he fixed his attention on Gigi. "Georgia Hayden, I've already reminded you today about language! You have no right to bust in on me at an important work call, and I'm not going to have you speaking me to me like that. Don't even think about saying one word against Bradley and Brie this trip, because that's exactly who you sound like."

"Well, I can't help it if you're never there for me!" Gigi retorted, as her father continued to hold the phone like a limp fish. "Something happened to me when you were gone, and you don't even care! You don't care how you've screwed up my life, or that I was the most miserable three-year-old ever, or how I ran into Lucy and Will and Lorelai-"

"Wait. Lorelai? You saw Lorelai?" Her father was now giving her his full attention. "Gigi, you saw Lorelai? Just _now_?"

Gigi swallowed. "Well, yes, but I-"

Christopher put his phone back to his ear. "Hey, Jim? Listen, something just came up, and I have to go now. Yeah, yeah, I'll talk to you later. If we don't have a chance to talk before then, Merry Christmas." He put the phone in his pocket and turned back to Gigi. Gigi had never seen her father look so serious before. "Gigi, tell me what happened. Now."

Stunned by the attention her father was giving her, Gigi attempted to explain. She didn't normally ramble, but she felt herself shrinking under the intensity of her father's gaze. "Well, after you left, I-I was approached by this woman, who wanted me to look after her two kids while she tried to sneak their presents to the cash register. I didn't know it was Lorelai, and she didn't seem to realize I was me, either-I mean, I told her my name, but obviously, I'm not the only Gigi out there-but I agreed, and I started talking to the kids-Will and Lucy, they're actually really sweet-and they mentioned they had an older sister, Rory. So I realized why Lorelai looked familiar, and I put two-and-two together, and then I came here." She somehow found it necessarily to add, "I didn't know it was Lorelai until then, Dad. I promise."

Her father seemed to have calmed down by this explanation. He nodded, taking this in. In a quieter voice, he asked, "So, Luke wasn't there?"

Gigi blinked. "Who's Luke?"

Christopher ran his hand through his hair. "Luke is, uh, Rory's stepdad. The kids' father."

"You mean Lorelai's husband?"

Looking away, her dad nodded. Though she knew that this did not make sense from what Lorelai, Will, and Lucy had told her, Gigi nonetheless found herself remembering her grandmother's analysis of Lorelai. "But how do you know she's still married to him? She could be divorced by now."

Christopher forced out a laugh. "She's still married, kid. Rory might not mention her mom much, but I know that for a fact."

"But-Grandma said Lorelai's a harlot, and-"

Christopher looked up. In a voice filled with more finality and discipline than Gigi was used to hearing from him, he said, "Gigi, Lorelai is not a harlot. I don't care what your grandmother has told you, but I will not have you using that word around her or Rory-or me, for that matter. Lorelai is not a harlot, and I never want to hear that word from your mouth again."

Looking at her father, Gigi was hit by a new possibility. True, her grandmother was not known for being rational, but it was the only explanation to the missing piece of the puzzle that she could think of. In a very soft voice, she asked, "When you were married, did Lorelai cheat on you?"

Her dad stared at her. "Where did you get that idea?"

Gigi shrugged. "Well, I think it's weird Grandma's still fixated on the fact that Lorelai got pregnant with Lorelai at sixteen, and I know what 'harlot' means. Plus, she got together with her husband so soon after you and she got divorced, so I don't know, I just thought-"

Her father cut her off. "Lorelai didn't cheat on me, Gigi. God knows, I almost wish she had, but she didn't cheat on me. What she did do wasn't a lot better, but cheating would have been a lot worse."

"What did she do to you?" Gigi asked, frowning.

She almost lost it when her father just shrugged. Still, she forced herself to be calm. "Dad, my whole life I've watched you squirm whenever Rory mentions her mom. I know you aren't the king of relationships, but you were married to Mom for two years; you wouldn't just back out after less than two months. Any minute now, I'm going to have to go back inside, face Lorelai, and collect the gifts for Brie and Bradley that her son is holding for me, and if you want Brie and Bradley to have Christmas gifts, I'll need to be prepared. Now tell me what happened. If she didn't cheat, what happened? Why do you wish she had?"

It took a few minutes for her father to answer. He placed his hand on her shoulder before he spoke. "Before Lorelai and I got married, she was engaged to Luke."

"And…?" said Gigi, taking this.

He sighed and looked off into the distance. She had never seen such a vulnerable, somber expression on her father's face before. "And, even after their failed engagement, she was never all the way there with me. She didn't love me. She loved Luke. For God knows what reason, she chose the flannel wearing diner owner over me, and if there's one thing I know about Lorelai, it's that she wouldn't have made that decision-not just to marry him, but to have a family with him-if she thought things wouldn't work out in the long run. She's still married to Luke, Gigi. That isn't going to change."

* * *

For the past seven years of her life, Gigi had often wondered about her reaction when she saw Lorelai Gilmore again. She was torn between imagining that she would yell at Lorelai for everything she had done to her or simply ignoring Lorelai, as per her grandmother's suggestion. The last thing she had wanted was for news to get back to her grandmother that she had ignored her advice, but she had also intended to give Lorelai a piece of her mind.

She had always assumed their meeting would take place at Rory's wedding. She knew her older sister was the only thing that would bring two sides of the family together, and since her father had last seen Lorelai at Rory's Yale graduation, it only seemed natural that he would next see her at Rory's wedding.

Still, fate had had other plans. Though Rory was currently in a serious relationship, and it was likely a marriage was not far away, fate had brought Christopher and Lorelai together not at their daughter's wedding, but at Fao Schwarz.

Lorelai, Will, and Lucy were waiting for them at the front of the store when Gigi and Christopher came back inside, Gigi's gifts still clutched in Will's hands. Now, Lorelai was also carrying two bags, which presumably held Lucy and Will's Christmas presents, and Lucy was also carrying a smaller bag and was cradling the stuffed dog in her hands. Gigi could still barely believe she had come face-to-face with Lorelai-indeed, without even realizing who she was at the time-after all these years.

Gigi watched the expressions on her dad's and Lorelai's faces as they began to approach them. Lorelai had begun to tense and blinked rapidly, but her father's expression was very different. Though he was trying to hide his true feelings, Gigi could read the depth of the pain on his face.

Finally, they approached them. Lorelai and Christopher each took a long while before speaking.

"Chris," Lorelai said very softly.

"Lor," her dad said in return.

Lorelai turned her attention back to Gigi, who tensed under her gaze. "God, Gigi, I can't believe I didn't recognize you. You look so different from the last time I saw you. Which, of course, makes sense, seeing as you were younger than Lucy at the time, but still, I can't believe it. How are you doing? Have the last however many years being treating you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Gigi in a lifeless tone.

Lorelai flinched, but did not comment. Stepping forward, Will handed the Bratz packet and train set to Gigi. "Here are your gifts," he said.

"Oh, are those what you picked out for Brie and Bradley?" Christopher said, looking at the packages in Gigi's hands. She nodded.

"Your girlfriend's kids?" Lorelai said, no doubt remembering what Gigi had told her. Christopher straightened.

"Oh, yeah, her name is Jane. She lives here in New York City, but I've been able to see her whenever I travel to New York for business. That's what we're doing now, actually. Jane invited us to spend the holidays with her." After sending Gigi a warning look, he added, "She's been really good to Gigi."

Lorelai nodded. Will had begun to look at his shoes, and Lucy had begun to play with her stuffed dog, both sensing the awkwardness. Gigi, for her own part, had taken out her cell phone and was texting Natasha back to inform her that she hadn't made it to Bloomingdale's yet. She glanced back up to see her dad scrutinize the expression on Lorelai's face, then quickly looked back at her phone.

"So, are you visiting Rory, too? She didn't mention you guys were in town."

"Um, no. I was thinking of it, but she said something about you guys being here, and-well, I didn't want to intrude."

"Oh." After hitting the "Send" button, Gigi looked up to see Chris avoiding Lorelai's gaze. "Well, you know, after spending Christmas with your girlfriend, I'm sure Rory wouldn't mind if you spent Christmas with her, too. We're just going to be hanging around Rory's apartment and watching movies, nothing special. I know Rory's really missed you and Gigi, so it would mean a lot to her."

"Thanks, Lor, but I don't think it would really be a good idea."

Lorelai's shoulders slumped. "Well. I'll ask Rory, just in case you change your mind."

She had noticed that her father had been making a conscious effort to avoid mentioning Lorelai's husband, but this effort proved to be in vein when Lorelai's phone began blasting Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise." Forcing a smile, Lorelai picked up the phone, ignoring the way her daughter had begun to motion to her stuffed dog.

"Hey, babe. Yeah, we're almost out of here…uh-huh, I managed to get everything under wraps…no, I'm okay. I'll tell you about it in more detail later, but we might as well call this year 'Lucy Instills Meeting With Mother's Exes,' cause that's seriously what 2016 is starting to feel like. No, not Max again…Guess…. _Lu-uke_, I only dated him that one time…! Darn, I can't even believe you remember Paul's name. God, _I _can barely remember his name…no, not Alex; God, do you make a habit of remembering all my ex's names? I mean, I know you were pining after me and all, but this is seriously getting creepy."

"Tell Luke hi from me," Christopher said in a lifeless voice. Flushing, Lorelai fixated her attention back on the phone.

"I guess you heard that…? Yeah, yeah, it was really weird. I asked this girl to look after Lucy and Will while I took care of you-know-what, and what do you know, it turned out to be Gigi. She's so old now; it's so weird. Anyway, I'm sure we'll be talking about this later, but I just wanted to tell you now because...Really?…thanks, you're the best, babe. I'll call you again when we're on the Subway, and then maybe we can plan what we're doing for dinner…yeah, yeah, I'll make sure Lucy and Will are safe…" She looked up to see Lucy, who was continuing to motion wildly. "Wait a second, I think Lucy wants to talk to you…hmm, marking your territory, are you? Well, lucky for you, I love you, too."

Lucy grabbed the phone from her mother. Her face lit up when she heard her father's voice. Gigi was startled by the depth of the excitement on Lucy's face. She was pretty sure she had never looked so excited at the prospect of talking to her dad. Most of the times she and her dad spoke on the phone, it had been because he was away on business, not because she genuinely missed him after only a short time apart. As she continued to watch Lucy, she felt a surge of emptiness filling her heart.

Lucy spoke in a tone that was unnecessarily loud for the phone. "Daddy? Oh, Daddy, you'll never guess what I got for my early Christmas present! A stuffed dog! Mommy and I talked it over, and we decided to name her Susannah Hoffs, cause Paul Anka is named after a singer, so it makes sense that this dog is too…No, _Susannah _Hoffs, from the Bangles …_Daddy_!"

"Luke's not a big Bangles fan?" said Christopher, listening in to the conversation.

Lorelai sighed. "No. He hates the Offspring, though, so he ranks." She flinched. "Oh, I'm sorry-that wasn't a direct dig at you. Reflex. God, I suck."

"That's okay," said Christopher, though Gigi was not sure she believed him. "Was I imaging it, though, or was your ring tone for him a Jimmy Buffet song?"

Lorelai blushed. "Um, Jimmy Buffet sings about cheeseburgers, and I love the cheeseburgers Luke makes, so…yes?"

For the first time that day, her dad broke into a wide smile. "Oh my God. You're the wife of a Parrot head. Say it isn't so."

Still blushing, Lorelai glared at him. Gigi continued to watch, stunned by the ease of their banter. "Shush you. I'm teaching my children to respect their father."

Christopher ignored this. "Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, wife of a Parrot head. God, I can't believe this. Well, I shouldn't be surprised." He smirked. "After all, you're already his chick."

Lorelai forced a smile, and even Will and Lucy, who had ended the call with her father, blinked at him. Gigi just rolled her eyes. After almost fourteen years, she was used to her father's corny comments.

"His chick, right," said Lorelai, with a clearly forced laugh. "Good one."

"Actually, all female birds are called hens," Will said, and they all looked at him. "All baby birds are called chicks, too…I think, anyway."

Lorelai stared at him. "One and only son of mine, how do you know that?"

Will shrugged. "Google. And maybe April, I can't remember."

"Ooh, then that means Will and me are Daddy's and your chicks!" Lucy said, chapping her hands together.

Lorelai smiled at her youngest. "If you talk to Babette and Miss Patty and hear about their old code name for your father and me, you were our chicks long before we extended this metaphor, but sure. I guess this makes things official."

Her father chose to ignore this comment. "Okay, the hen of a Parrot head then," he said, looking embarrassed that he had been outsmarted by an eight-year-old. Gigi had to smile, thinking about how different Will was from Bradley. "Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, the hen of a Parrot head…and uh, right." He motioned to Lucy and Will. "You two are their chicks." Lucy beamed, and Christopher turned back to Lorelai. "Who would have known that when we first listened to that song at ten, you would someday become a Parrot head's wife? I can't believe you picked a Parrot head over me."

Although Gigi knew her father hadn't meant this the wrong way, these words had come out more bitter than he'd attended. "Chris," Lorelai said softly. She approached him and reached out to pat him on his arm. Just before her hand made contact with it, Christopher jerked his arm away.

"God, I'm sorry, Lor," he said, flinching. "I didn't mean it the way it sounded. That was completely uncalled for. Gigi and I need to pay for the present anyway, and I'll-well, I guess we'll probably see each other around sometime."

"Wait, Chris." She blocked him before he could make his way to the cash register. Gigi realized she was holding her breath. "Chris, about what you heard me tell Luke-I'm sorry. You just have to understand, you were a thorn in our relationship for so long, and I didn't want Luke to hear about our meeting from Lucy or Will. Obviously, nothing's happened, and Luke would have known that too, but it was something I had to tell him." She studied his face. "You-you forgive me?"

Her father sighed. "I could never not forgive you, Lor," he said, and Lorelai nodded, biting her lip.

Gigi felt her father tugging her arm towards the cash register. "Come on, Gigi." Looking towards Lorelai's and the kids' direction, Christopher plastered a smile onto his face. It struck Gigi just how many forced smiles Lorelai and her father had been giving each other. After clearing his throat, he said, "Gigi and I need to be on our way. We still have to pay for the presents, and I promised Gigi we'd go shopping before we meet up with my girlfriend and her kids for dinner later."

Lorelai flushed. "Oh, of-of course." She stepped away, granting Gigi and Christopher an accessible path towards the cash register. "Gigi, Chris, it was so great to see both of you…Gigi, really think about seeing the _Gigi _movie; I'm sure your dad would love to see it with you."

"I will," said Gigi very quietly.

Lorelai studied her face and sighed. "Good. You won't regret it."

"Bye, Lor," Chris said. He glanced again at the kids before adding, "Make sure your mom doesn't too anything too crazy." The two kids raised their hands in waves, and Gigi, too overwhelmed to say anything else, waved back.

She continued to watch Lorelai and the kids as her father paid for the gifts. Lucy had noticed a display of rubber duck reindeer on the way out and was nudging her mom to look at them. Though Lorelai was trying to fixate her attention on the reindeer, Gigi could see how spooked Lorelai looked. Her dad, for his own part, kept glancing back back at in the direction of Lorelai, then turning back towards the register before Lorelai could notice.

Just before Lorelai and the kids left, Will stepped closer to their mother. After Lucy saw what Will was doing, she stepped closer too. Gigi found herself thinking of _It's Complicated_, a Meryl Streep movie she had seen on television a few weeks ago. Though Gigi had turned the movie on towards the ending and had been confused by some of the events as a result, one scene had stood out in particular. In the scene, Meryl Streep's character's children had huddled up in bed together, after finding out particularly confusing news about their divorced parents. One was engaged, the other had just graduated college, and the other was still in college, but they were still as close as they had been as little kids. After Meryl Streep's character had explained things to them, she and the oldest daughter's fiancé had joined them in snuggling in bed. It had been a perfect family scene, and Gigi had found herself wishing that she had grown up with siblings.

She found herself filled with similar feelings now. Though Lucy and Will were plainly too young to understand the depth of what their mother was feeling, they put their arms around their mother with distinct tenderness. Lorelai, smiling at her youngest children, hugged them back just as fiercely, unmistakable maternal tenderness shining in her blue eyes.

Gigi had to look down, so that a tear would not escape. Her own mother had never looked at her like this, and Gigi never had comforted her in the same way, either. Nor, she reflected silently, would Lorelai Gilmore (or whatever her name was now-knowing her father, he had probably ignored her married name) ever comfort her Gigi in the same way she had when Gigi was a child. It was time to face the truth: Lorelai Gilmore was really gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: So, I have some (potentially) good news. This is NOT the last chapter. Inspiration stroke, and I realized that I couldn't wrap up this little doozy in just one more chapter. I finally bit the bullet and decided to see Season Season from start to finish (in contrast to the scattered scenes on Youtube-aka all the JavaJunkie moments-and all the transcripts I'd read), and well, after that, I found myself so frustrated at Lorelai that I channeled it into this fic. Suddenly, this fic became not only a story about Gigi and Christopher grappling with the events from 10 years ago, but it also became a story about Lorelai once again coming to terms with the damage she had done-that, although she and Luke had gotten past her other marriage, there was someone very important she had forgotten to take into consideration (the same little girl who this fic is mostly about). So, voila, more chapters for you, and more work for me! It'll be angsty, but I hope it's worth it. I'm thinking it'll be about 6 or 7 chapters before I wrap this baby up. (In case you were wondering-I haven't been a Gilmore fan for very long. So I haven't avoided it for the last 3.5 years or anything).

Feel free to skip this other paragraph to the story since this chapter is just a humorous aside, but I just wanted to add a little random factoid about our favorite TV show and fanfiction: I have a bit of an obsession with reading "historical fiction" fanfictions. Ie, fanfictions that were written before a series or TV show was finished. In _Gilmore Girls_, those fanfics are stories that were written pre-Luke and Lorelai getting together (in about 2003 or earlier!), and MAN, are they funny (this does not concern AU stories of how Luke and Lorelai got together before "Raincoats and Recipes," but stories that were actually written long before the famous episode). Some are pretty darn good at characterization in an almost freaky way, but with others, I'm shaking my head, pondering how OOC Luke and Lorelai seem while in a relationship. In one of these fanfictions, Emily still asks Lorelai to bring Luke to dinner (albeit Friday Night dinner) so she can "meet him", and Lorelai still says, "But you've already met him," which was impressive. On the other hand, Lorelai asks Luke if he remembers when they first met, and he says, "No." It was a commentary about how they've known each other for so long and so well that they've just taken for granted each other in their life, so not a bad thing, but it was still funny, since the horoscope meeting has become so accepted in L&L's relationship.

The best, however, was a conversation at the said Friday Night dinner between Richard and Luke. Richard asks Luke if he has any children (this was set after Lorelai and Rory return to Stars Hollow after their trip to Europe), and Luke, of course, replies, "No." Richard in return replies, "Are you sure?" and Luke answers, "I'm pretty sure that's something I would know." Oh my God, you guys, you have no idea how hard I laughed. I could just imagine the author's eyes bugging out when April first entered the scene. Darn that Anna.

(Btw, this story wasn't on fanfiction or Black and White and Read. So I regretfully couldn't write a review telling the author how great it was, because despite some outdatedness-which was NOT the author's fault-it was quite a good, well-written fic, and I'm sad I couldn't write a review).

But without further ado, here is Chapter Three of "Her Father's Second Wife"!

* * *

As soon as Gigi and Christopher made their way back to their hotel room at the Ritz, Gigi shut herself in her room. They had two connecting rooms, which made this possible. Though Christopher had taken Gigi on the promised shopping trip, it had been even more unpleasant than he'd suspected. Gigi had pouted almost the whole time and had only filled one bag full of clothes, in contrast to her usual three. Even the cup of hot chocolate he had gotten her on the way back did not manage to improve her mood.

Inside his own room, Christopher sighed. Deep down, he knew that Gigi was not upset at him, but he wished he could understand the depth of her anger. That was the problem with being a single dad, raising a teenage girl. Despite the fact he hadn't been very involved in Rory's life, Rory had been a lot easier to deal with. Gigi, however, was an especially difficult child. It was true she did not have tantrums anymore, but her teenage mood swings weren't much better.

At a quarter after six, he knocked on the door that connected Gigi's and his rooms. "Gigi, we have reservations with Jane and the kids at seven," he said.

"I don't care," came her sullen reply.

"Gigi, I know you're upset, but Jane has done nothing to you. At the very least, can you bottle up those feelings towards me and be polite to Jane?"

"I'm not mad at you."

Though he had suspected as much, Christopher found himself letting out a deep breath. "You're not?"

His daughter seemed to reconsider. "Well, not much, anyway."

Opening the door between them, he found Gigi huddled on her bed, her headphones in her ears. Her phone was in front of her, and she appeared to be texting one of her friends. Though she tensed when he approached her, he nonetheless positioned himself next to her. "Gigi, tell me what's wrong."

Her voice was muffled. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Gigi…"

"I'm serious, Dad!" she said, and he was startled to see a tear rolling down her cheeks. "I don't want to talk about it. Can I just stay here…alone?"

Christopher let out a breath. Although his own parents would have pressured him to come with them, he could still remember how frustrating that had been. "Okay," he said quietly. "You can stay here. I'll leave some money for you to get room service or something. Just call my cell if you need anything."

For the first time that day, Gigi almost smiled. "Thanks, Dad," she said quietly. "I'll do that."

After leaving a decent amount of money for Gigi's room service, Christopher went back into his own room and called Jane. The last thing he wanted was for Jane to think that Gigi was purposefully avoiding him. Though he had not ruled out that possibility completely, something told him Gigi's feelings were more serious.

Jane's tone was bright when she answered him. He always admired that. From personal experience as a single father, he was always surprised by her cheery attitude. Being a single parent definitely wasn't as easy as Lorelai had made it seem. Though he knew that even the docile Rory had been a lot of work, he had nonetheless always admired Lorelai's brave facade.

"Hi, Chris. You and Gigi still coming?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Christopher said with a sigh. "Gigi's not in the best mood right. I don't know why, but it definitely doesn't have with you or the kids. I'll be there, but she asked me if she could stay home tonight. She's really upset, so I thought it would be best to give her some space."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jane said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "Any idea what triggered it?"

Christopher hesitated, trying to think back to what had happened that day. "I don't know, really. I mean, I guess it could be…" He stopped, reconsidering it.

"Could be what?" said Jane gently.

Christopher let out a breath. His first instinct was to make something up. After all, he wasn't sure how he would react if Jane ran into her first husband, and he guessed that Jane would feel the same way. It wasn't as though anything had happened, after all. Yet at the same time, he remembered how quickly Lorelai had told Luke about seeing him. Regardless of how he felt about their relationship, it was obvious their marriage was working. Maybe it was time he gave Lorelai's way a try.

"We ran into my ex-wife-Lorelai, Rory's mother-and her two kids when we were out shopping for your kids' presents today," Christopher said finally. "I don't really know why, but Gigi was pretty upset after it. It was a pretty confusing time for her, during that marriage, what with Gigi seeing her mom again and all, and I don't know…I guess it's possible seeing Lorelai triggered it."

"That sounds about right," said Jane. "I can only imagine how Brie and Bradly would feel seeing their dad again." Similar to Sherry, Jane's husband had left Jane in the middle of her pregnancy with Bradley. The six-year-old Brie, who had been three when her dad had left her, barely remembered her father, either. "It has to have brought up really confusing feelings for Gigi. Of course she can stay home. Is she going to be okay, without eating dinner and all?"

Christopher let out a breath, relieved by his girlfriend's sensitivity. She did not even seem upset that he had run into his ex-wife. Perhaps Lorelai and Luke had it right, after all. "Yeah, I left her some money for room service. She loves ordering room service, so hopefully that will cheer her up some."

"That sounds good. Maybe we can even bring her back some dessert or something. Make sure to tell Gigi that I hope she's feeling better."

"Will do."

"Oh, and Chris?" Jane's voice was quieter now, in what he recognized as her more intimate tone. "Gigi or no Gigi, I can't wait to see you again."

She wasn't Lorelai. Still, Christopher found himself beginning to smile. "Yeah, same here."

* * *

After Gigi started on her room service-a fancy chicken dish and a piece of double chocolate cake-she found herself surfing Rory's Facebook. Rory's Facebook was more conservative, so that she could maintain her reputation as a serious reporter. As it went, Rory mostly used her Facebook for linking people to her articles and giving the occasional funny status. She also had a quite few photo albums of her family, including a picture she had taken with Christopher and Gigi at the Statue of Liberty the year before, but Gigi mostly tried to avoid this particular album.

Now, she found herself following the link to Rory's mother. Lorelai Gilmore's Facebook was mostly public, so that Gigi could see most of her information without being her friend. In contrast to Rory's, it was as out there as a Facebook could get. Whereas Rory's profile picture was an image of a smiling Rory and her boyfriend, Lorelai had added Bono for "Add a Picture of Your Favorite 80s Singer Week". Though Gigi had not participated in the challenge (her music tastes were more contemporary), she recognized it from her dad, who had added Dexter Holland from the Offspring.

Aside from her profile picture and the various apps Lorelai had added to her Facebook (mainly, a few Bumper Stickers and a massive Flair board), Lorelai's Facebook was similar to Cynthia Holland, whose kids Gigi babysat. Both Lorelai and Cynthia had traces of their kids all over their Facebook. Like Cynthia, Lorelai's quote page was filled with random funny things Will and Lucy had said, though unlike Cynthia, she had also added many, many movie quotes. Her status was also a shout-out to Lucy: "Not only did I raise my eldest child to love the Bangles and turned my stepdaughter on to them, but my youngest is a fan, too. Now to work on Will and Luke." It was strange to see this status, which Gigi recognized as a shout-out to how Lucy had named her stuffed dog "Susannah Hoffs".

What was most similar about Cynthia's and Lorelai's Facebooks were their photo albums, filled with family portraits. Lorelai had a Facebook album committed to almost every member of her family. Gigi clicked on the one entitled "The Luke Danes Scowl," which featured her flannel-wearing husband. One had a picture of Luke yelling at an older man who was dressed in a cardigan. Another appeared to have been taken at Disney World or Disneyland. Rory and Lucy were standing next to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, both wearing identical Minnie Mouse ears. Will, who was wearing Goofy ears, had also been pulled into the picture, though he did not look as excited as his sisters.

The highlight of the picture, however, was Lorelai's husband. Though Luke was not the center of the picture, she could still see him standing off to the side, with a huge scowl on his face. He appeared to have been glaring at the two Tweedle's, as if he couldn't believe he had been dragged to Disneyland, in the first place. His glare almost foreshadowed the center display of Lorelai's three children.

Her surprise came at the end of the album. This picture showed Luke, sitting on a couch in what had to be in his house, listening to a young woman with glasses, who was tagged as "April Nardini". Will and Rory stood on the couch next to April, and Lucy was sitting in her father's lap. Various pictures of turkey hands and red and orange streamers decorated the house. In contrast to the various scowls of the other pictures, in this picture, Luke was actually wearing a small smile. The picture didn't appear to have been staged, which made the smile more relevant. As a caption under the picture, Lorelai had written, _One Luke Danes smile is worth a thousand frowns. They might be rarer, but they're always more meaningful when they do happen. Love you, babe. XOXOXO. _The picture had received many "likes" and comments, including one from a "Babette Dell," that read, "You and Luke are an inspiration to us all-most adorable couple ever!"

She looked at a comment from Rory, who had written about how much she had enjoyed that past Thanksgiving. It was strange to think her half-sister had a whole family separate from her. Though it was true Gigi had her own family too-not that Sherry and her husband seemed like family-Rory's family was so much bigger than hers. She had three half-siblings and a stepsister. Gigi knew that Rory loved her, but after looking at the Facebook albums, she couldn't help feeling like the odd one out.

Still, she loved her older sister. As an eighth grader working towards acceptance to an Ivy League school (though her goal was Princeton, not Yale), she greatly admired her sister's persistence. Rory had given her lots of school advice over the years, and sometimes, Gigi even found herself admiring a certain coat or sweater Rory owned and buying a similar one from the same store. Rory was her role model in many ways.

Smiling at the thought of hearing Rory's voice, Gigi picked up her cell phone and clicked on Rory's number. Within moments, the phone was ringing. But when someone picked up the phone, it was not the familiar voice Gigi had been expecting. Instead, it was a voice she had heard just hours before. "Rory's secretary speaking, how may I help you?"

Gigi froze. More than anything, she was tempted to hang up the phone and call back later. Still, she was almost positive that Rory had caller I.D., and the last thing she wanted was to cause drama. "Um, can you put Rory on? It's Gigi."

"Oh, Gigi!" said Lorelai, her voice higher-pitched than it had been in person. "Yeah, the phone said it was you, but I didn't want to pretend I was Rory or anything, hence my greeting. According to Rory, I do an awful imitation of her, and she was really mad at me when I tried to masquerade as her in the past. Anyway, how are you? Did you get any really cute clothes on your shopping trip?"

"Um, a few." She could hear what sounded like a T.V. blasting and Will complaining that his sister was squishing him. In return, Lucy made a comeback that he was the one who was squishing her.

"Sorry about that," Lorelai said, as if reading her thoughts. "We're all at the hotel right now, and Rory came to spend some time with us before heading back home. Her boyfriend's away on business, so she's feeling kind of lonely. Rory's in the other room, reading to Will and Lucy, but I guess she left her cell phone here. It's one of their traditions to all squeeze in bed together and for Rory to read to them. Only it's even more crowded because my husband's listening too, though I don't know if Lucy's managed to convince him to join them in that bed or not. Speaking of which…" The T.V. was turned off, and Gigi heard the sound of footsteps. After a few moments, Lorelai spoke again. "Luke, as the father, isn't it your role to quiet down the kids? Our offsprings' squabbling is interrupting _From Here to Eternity._"

In spite of her words, Lorelai did not sound upset; instead, Gigi could tell that this was a well-rehearsed banter the two had practiced many times. When Lorelai's husband spoke, it was in the same faux angry tone that Lorelai had spoken in. "As though you don't know that movie by heart already. And as long as we're on that note, why don't you turn your movie down? Rory's nearly having to yell, your movie is so loud."

"Luke, it's fine, really," said Rory, sounding amused. "My voice doesn't hurt, I promise."

"Okay, I just don't want you to lose your voice for Christmas."

Rory ignored this comment. "Mom, did someone call for me? You're holding my phone."

"Oh, it's a man with a very sexy voice asking for you," said Lorelai in an exaggerated tone. "Apparently, he read your articles and then just _had _to speak to the great Lorelai Gilmore the third herself. I tried to impress him by telling him he was talking to Lorelai Gilmore the second, but apparently only Rory Gilmore the reporter will do."

"Well, it is hard to top the great New York Times reporter," said Rory with a laugh. "Now, who is it really? Is it a work call or do you think I could finish the chapter? I just have a few pages left, and we were already interrupted once, when Lucy had to go the bathroom."

"Actually, it's your sister-and by 'sister' I mean your only sister with blonde hair, not those two brunette beauties who sometimes come around." Her voice became more muffled. "Hey everyone, say hello to Gigi, the one and only blonde beauty!"

"Hi Gigi," came the joint chorus of Rory, Will, and Lucy.

"Oh, Gigi, it's great to hear from you!" Rory added, sounding genuinely enthusiastic. Despite her current mood, Gigi felt herself smiling, happy that her sister was glad to hear from her. "Hey, do you mind if I talk to you in just a few minutes? I'm almost done reading a chapter of _Pippi Longstocking_, and I think Luke might kill me if I stop and start again."

"I will not!" said what Gigi now recognized as Luke's voice.

"Hey, you've been begging me to lend you the book ever since the first time we watched the movie," Rory teased. "Don't try to protest now, mister, cause I know that's not true. So Gigi, you and I will talk in a few minutes?"

"Uh, I guess so," said Gigi, feeling trapped. The last thing Gigi heard before Lorelai's voice returned to her ear was Lucy begging her father to let her stay in his bed, because Will was kicking her.

"Sorry about that," said Lorelai, as the other voices became fainter. "My husband really has always wanted to read _Pippi_. He's always had some weird obsession with Pippi's individuality. He might have even compared all of his daughters _and _Will to Pippi at some occassion or another, since they're all just so goshdarn original. If you want, I can just entertain you for a few minutes before Rory's done."

"Um, that's okay," said Gigi quickly. She was beginning to regret her decision to call Rory.

"No, no, it's fine!" said Lorelai. "So what has the great Gigi been up to now that she's thirteen going on fourteen? You are thirteen, right? There wasn't some birthday I've forgotten?"

"No, I am thirteen. And nothing, really. Just schoolwork, hanging out with friends, and spending the holidays in Paris with my mom."

"And how is your mom, anyway? Last I heard, I think she was dating her yoga instructor?"

"Um, she married him, actually. She's not so calm now, though. She still does yoga, but it's gotten old by now."

"Yeah, I myself broke my leg turning yoga, so I can definitely understand how even a great relaxing pastime such as yoga can be stressful. And your dad. How is he?"

Gigi could not help the biting tone of her next remark. "Didn't you just see him today?"

She heard Lorelai take in a breath. "Well, yes, but I-"

"If you want to get back together with my dad, it's too late now," Gigi said, with more vigor than she'd attended. "I'm not about to be your go between. You baled on him and broke his heart, and he's not going to get his heart broken again."

There was a long pause on the other end. Finally, Lorelai said softly, "I suppose I should have suspected why you've been giving me the cold shoulder."

Gigi ignored Lorelai's comment. "You know, it's funny, but I really used to think that it was mostly Dad's fault. I mean, he had one failed marriage up your sleeve, and as far as I knew, you had none, so that pointed it to being my dad's fault, right? He's been in more failed relationships than I can count. But I never realized that my grandma was actually right-that my dad was the one who tried and you were the one who bailed-until today. I mean, what the hell was that, anyway? Being engaged to this Luke guy and then rushing off to marry my dad, while you were still in love with someone else? How the hell do you think that's supposed to make my dad feel? It's been years since it happened, and my dad still had trouble telling me about it today!"

Lorelai's tone was pleading. "Gigi-"

"And the worse thing is, now you have your own family." She was startled to feel tears welling up in her eyes. "You bailed on me, Lorelai! You bailed on me, too! You just…_left_, without saying goodbye to me or anything! You were my stepmother, someone who had made a commitment to both Dad and me, and the next thing I knew, you were gone! And now you're just pretending that _nothing's_ wrong-that we can just pick up like we were when I was a little kid, no hard feelings involved? God, what is wrong with you? You've even more messed up than I thought!"

"Gigi, please-"

"You know what, I don't have to listen to this anymore," Gigi said. "You haven't been my stepmother for a long time, and you're certainly not my mother. Just because you're Rory's mother doesn't mean you have any connection to me. You or that perfect family of yours. Tell Rory I'll call her later. I'm really not in the mood to talk anymore."

"Gigi, wait!"

She disconnected the call before Lorelai could stop her. Then, she turned off the phone, took a bite of her double chocolate cake, and started to cry.

Halfway through her cake, Gigi realized that turning off her phone might not have been such a good idea. Her father called her whenever he left her alone, and he was always paranoid when he couldn't get in touch with her. Right now, however, Gigi was much more concerned with avoiding than Lorelai's potential calls than placating her father. Christopher would just have to deal with it.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Your support continues to mean the world to me! I would have never thought that this odd little story about Gigi Hayden would have reached so many reviews already! Truly, you guys rock.

Special thanks to Anna Luna who informed me that Gigi now has her own character category, a fact I'm extremely happy about (btw, does anyone else besides me find it extremely funny that both Matt and Chris from Truncheon also have their own character categories on fanfiction, despite the fact we only see them in one episode?). I did find out, though, that according to the credits on Season Seven, Gigi is actually spelled "G.G.," which I don't like (please, fanfiction, don't change her label to "G.G. H"!). However, in the spirit of keeping canon, I have added an explanation for the change in spelling with her name.

Fun fact: this chapter mentions Lorelai and Luke having the beginning and ending of the same dream. This actually happened to my parents, though in their cases, it was about our city water being shipped to us. I thought a coffee shipment (in both of their minds, because Lorelai would have kept rambling about it) was much more appropriate!

Kudos to you if you can spot the very minor _Pushing Daisies _reference. It's my favorite TV show after GG, and I'm beyond sad that it was canceled.

P.S. Question: Did Lorelai and Christopher's infamous wedding party ever end up happening? This chapter makes a reference to it, but I could never tell from the episodes whether it did.

* * *

Once upon a time, a little girl met the son of her parents' good friends. Since both the little girl and little boy were around the same age (and, perhaps more importantly, from comparable backgrounds), both children were encouraged to spend time together.

Their parents' meddling worked, for the most part. Both children shared a dislike for the pretentious families they had been brought up in and became close friends and partners in crime. At fourteen, the girl kissed the boy because "she just wanted to see what it would be like". Soon after, they started an on-and-off relationship, which would not completely end until over twenty years later.

When the girl was sixteen, she found herself pregnant with the boy's child. This created quite the scandal. The girl was ostracized by her friends, and both the boy's and her families became the center of gossip. Wanting to maintain their reputations, the girl's parents set down a simple ground rule for both children: get married. The girl refused. Not realizing that "no, I don't want to marry you" didn't mean "I don't want you in our daughter's life," the boy became a less-than-active father.

The girl-now a young woman-raised her daughter by herself. Whereas she had been taught to be "seen and not heard," her daughter was taught to enjoy her childhood. Still, not all was carefree. In spite of the various birthdays and phone calls that he had missed, the woman still clung to the fantasy that someday her daughter's father would change, and the three could be a true family. He was not mature enough now, and she did not hesitate to refuse his various marriage proposals over the years, but someday, if he became more mature…well, perhaps it was possible.

In the middle of all this, the woman met a man-a grumpy, yet strangely attractive man, who owned the town's local diner. Though he was not known for his love of kids, he ended up being an almost surrogate father to the woman's daughter. Perhaps just as importantly, he also served a good coffee. This, combined with the banter the two got into whenever the woman entered his diner, made the woman and her daughter frequent customers at his establishment.

Some details have been omitted from this story. Their names are "Max," "Rachel," "Sherry," "Alex," "Nicole," and "Jason," in addition to all of the flings the daughter's father had over the years. Still, suffice to say, as time went on, the woman found herself rethinking whether she and her daughter's father could ever really become a family. He had married someone else, after all. Her daughter was nearly grown. And as wonderful as being a family would be, did she really want to continue to wait for him to get his act together, especially when she was in denial about her feelings for someone else?

She was asked to stand still. She asked the question back. And, in some ways, this is where the story truly began.

Time will be skipped. Still, some facts are important. He was the first man she let into her house and the first man she unquestionably loved. Later, she would even propose to him. Though she had thought she had loved her daughter's father, this was different. She had been a mere teenager at the time. Now, she was in her thirties, and everything was going better than she had dreamed. At least until _his _wife left him. Though she and her now-boyfriend got over that hump, it did not completely go away.

And then the rain came. He, the only man who had always been there for her, pushed her away, and she found herself more broken than she had ever been before. Exhausted and desperate, she issued an ultimatum. He said no. He had his daughter to think of, after all. She walked away. Finding herself with no one to turn to, she ended up in her oldest friend's arms.

There are a lot of possible reasons for the "I slept with Christopher" and eventual wedding ring that followed. One possible reason is that the woman had never completely gotten over her first love, and when she finally realized that the three of them (plus his other daughter) could finally become a family, she jumped at the opportunity. Another is that he was a rebound and it was easier to be the one who hurt her ex-fiancé, than the one who was hurt by him. Still another is that she simply gave up. Her daughter was out of the house, and she was nearing forty, and now that she had had a taste of companionship, she did not want to be alone. She was good at being in denial, and after eight years of denying her feelings for her coffee supplier, one year wasn't that long in the grand scheme of thing.

Besides, she had lived her whole life upsetting her parents. Though she liked that about herself, deep down inside of her was the little girl, begging for approval. Her parents approved of _him_. So perhaps that was part of it, too.

Whatever the reason was, one thing cannot be denied. They were not able to stay together. Though he was "the man she wanted to want," their relationship was not written in the stars; the horoscope had said something else. For a time, she didn't know what she wanted, but after a search for a new car, a drunken love song, and the reciprocation she had never dared to hope for, one thing became clear: Christopher or no Christopher, she was in love with Luke Danes. And that had never really stopped.

As the years passed, their year apart became less and less significant. They finally got married and had a family together, and after lots and lots of conversations, "Christopher" no longer became as taboo a word in their household. She had chosen Luke over Christopher, and that was how it would remain. Though she had not talked to Christopher since a brief phone call nine months after their daughter's graduation, he was still her daughter's father. Rory made an effort not to talk about her father, and it was safe to say she was closer with her mother's family than her dad's, but he was still her father. Now that he had an "Anna," this was something Luke could understand.

In spite of all this, it had taken Lorelai Gilmore-Danes a long time to finally come to terms with how many people she had hurt and led on during her whirlwind marriage. Rory. Luke. Christopher. Even her parents, to some extent. Rory and Luke had reassured her, and she had known Christopher would get over it eventually, but even that did not erase the many people she had hurt.

What she did not realize, though, was that there was one person she had forgotten to take into the equation…a little girl, struggling to understand the concept of her mother being back in her life. The one person she had inadvertently hurt the most.

* * *

Lorelai lay in bed late that night, thinking about Gigi. _G.G._, she had simply been then. Rory had told her how, a couple of years ago, Gigi had changed her name, when she became increasingly sick of people asking what her initials stood for. The fact that even Sherry's own daughter hated her name had amused Lorelai and Rory greatly. Even years later, Lorelai and Rory had not stopped joking about how green was the new pink.

Still, aside from brief comments of, "How's your dad and sister?", Lorelai had never stopped to think about Gigi very much over the years. April had quickly become her stepdaughter, and the two were much closer than Gigi and Lorelai had been. Perhaps that was not fair, seeing as there was a nearly eleven year difference between Gigi and April, but there it was. When she and Luke had started their own family, she became too preoccupied with her own kids (and occasionally running into or babysitting Liz's, Sookie's, and Lane's) to give much time or thought to anyone else's.

Over the years, she had occasionally wondered how Gigi was doing. It was still surreal to her that after the way he had bailed on Rory, Christopher was now a single dad himself. She had hoped that he was okay. While it was true she had seen Sherry's car seat for Gigi with her own eyes, she still remembered the woman Sherry had been before. Yoga could not fix all of her problems. Sherry was still materialistic and sometimes judgmental and selfish, and none of these traits were endearing to a young child. From personal experience with her own mother, Lorelai knew better than anyone.

But how could she have been so selfish? How could she have forgotten how tightly Gigi had clung to her during the ride to Paris or the way Gigi had petted Paul Anka, looking so much at home? She had assumed Francine had told Gigi awful things about her-God, she could still remember Francine's narrowed eyes at that god awful wedding party-but she had never realized how deep Gigi's anger really was.

When Gigi had talked to Lorelai over the phone after hearing of her dad's marriage, she had sounded excited. Though it had been one thing to disappoint her own daughter, who had already been an adult at the time of the whirlwind marriage and divorce, it was very different to disappoint a little girl.

Luke, as though sensing her discomfort, began to stir. That was the thing about the two of them. Once, they had had the beginning and ending of the same dream-in his, he had been waiting for a new shipment of coffee, and in hers, they had finally received it-and Lorelai had often joked that their minds were linked. It actually appeared to be true; whenever she woke up in the middle of the night, upset about something, Luke always seemed to know. Even if they had wanted to, they could not keep secrets from each other anymore.

Luke stretched for a few moments, before seeming to notice that she was awake. "Are you okay?" he said softly, touching her shoulder.

Lorelai sighed and rolled over to face him. "I'm just thinking about Gigi. God, that poor girl. How could I have ever been so selfish, Luke? I mean, I didn't even say goodbye."

He had known how upset she was about Gigi from the tears and attempted phone calls that had followed the initial call. "You weren't being selfish, Lorelai," said Luke gently. "You were letting her dad deal with it. I mean, he was her father. You barely lived with Gigi for a few months."

"Yeah, but she had a sucky mother. Sure things with Sherry were going pretty well at the time, but I had still seen Gigi more in the past two years than Sherry had. I should have known Gigi would be upset with me, goddammit! I should have taken that little girl into my arms, said goodbye, and apologized to her! She already had a mother who left her; she didn't need a stepmom who left, too."

Luke brushed a stray hair out of her face. "She was so young at the time, you probably didn't even realize she'd remember it. I mean, that girl was pretty little throughout all of it."

"Yeah, but I should have. You know, when I was three-years-old, I got sick during one of my mother's dinner parties, and after I threw up, the only thing my mom could do was yell at my nanny at the time for not realizing I was sick. Just as if I hadn't been complaining that I didn't feel well all throughout the dinner!"

Though she had told Luke countless stories of her childhood, Luke's anger after hearing them had never subsided. "She really did that to you?"

"Yeah, she really did. Takes you back to when she yelled at us, after Lucy got sick during one of Friday night dinners-my mother, in denial about the fact that Lucy wasn't actually sick and was just traumatized that she had eaten Thumper."

"God, I wanted to _kill _her after she did that. Neither Will or Lucy would watch anything with rabbits in it for weeks. It just so happened that _Bambi _was the only movie that would entertain them while I was cooking, too."

"The point is, things like this stick out when you're a kid! I should have realized that in Gigi's little mind, me leaving her and her dad was no better than her mom leaving her. I hate to think about the poor girl, crying out in a hotel room somewhere. Comforting people has never been Chris's thing."

"She's going to be okay."

Lorelai took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. It was so dark inside that she could barely make out any details. "You know what I keep thinking about? I hate to bring it up, but I'm just remembering how, after Christopher read my character reference, he told me that he needed to choose between you and him-that you couldn't be part of my life anymore, in any way. And I was really struggling with it when I walked in front of the diner and saw you waving at me. And how…well, in that moment, I just knew. I mean, you came to the hospital for me after a huge, earth shattering fight, and Christopher turned off the phone after a relatively tiny one in comparison."

Even in the dark, she could tell that Luke was smiling. "Well, I can't tell you how happy I am with your choice."

"But you know the weird thing?" She let out a tiny laugh. "I knew what it was like to live without Christopher. I mean, for years he was always this sporadic thing, and then there was that whole year I didn't talk to him because of the way he acted at my parents' vow renewal. I won't say it was pleasant to break bonds with him-he was my oldest friend, after all-but it was also surprisingly…easy. I guess it wasn't that different from what it's always been. Living without you would be…unbearable. Even occasionally seeing each other in town that year would have been better than nothing. I might have been in denial at some points, but I always knew my choice."

She turned back to Luke and swallowed hard. "You do realize I'm going to have to talk to him, don't you? I don't want to…but I have to. For Gigi's sake, not his."

Luke let out a sigh. "I know. Just be…careful. You told me how he freaked about you giving Gigi advice before."

"Yeah, but it's really something he should know. Think about it. What if it was April or Will or Lucy, feeling that neglected, and they hadn't told you about it? Wouldn't you want to know?"

Luke spoke softly. "Of course I'd want someone to tell me. I'd be in hell if they didn't. But you're forgetting something."

She frowned. "What is it?"

"I'd be just as upset if it was Rory."

She found herself beginning to smile. "Yeah. I know that, too."

* * *

Sometimes, Lorelai still couldn't believe that she had been able to finally make a family with Luke. After all of their ups and downs over the years, it was amazing that they had found their middle, after all. Rory would always be her firstborn and best friend, but Will and Lucy were different. They were both Luke's and her children, and it amazed Lorelai that their love had created such perfect individuals. Lorelai always made sure to tell them the story of she and Luke, so that Lucy and Will always knew how much they had both been wanted.

After Luke had drifted back to sleep, Lorelai snuck into the hotel room Will and Lucy were staying in. There slept her sleeping angels, their chests falling in rhythmic ups and downs.

She sat down on Lucy's bed first. The little girl was snuggled next to Susannah Hoffs and Pigby, her stuffed pig, and her dark curls were spread over her pillow. She whispered a soft, "I love you" into Lucy's ear and kissed her forehead, before moving on to Will's bed.

Unlike Lucy, who had inherited the deep sleeping gene from her father, Will woke up as soon as Lorelai sat down on his bed. He blinked in the darkness, before lowering his voice to a whisper. "Mom, what are you doing?" he said, with a twinge of amusement. "Are you here to tell me of alien invasion, like in _War of the Worlds_?"

Lorelai suppressed a grin. Though she often teased Will, who was the splitting image of his father, that he was all Danes and no Gilmore, this was not true. Like Rory, he was a sweet, studious kid who loved to read, and every time Will made pop culture references, Lorelai was reminded that he was her son, after all. Even Luke had joined in their family's game of making pop culture references whenever possible. "No, I'm actually here to inform you that we need to take flight, like in _2012_. I guess 2012 wasn't the year of the apocalypse after all."

Will yawned. "As long as they're not zombies, I'm good." On more than one occasion, Luke had ranted about the various zombie apocalypse films that had been made over the years. Though Lorelai (and sometimes Rory) always watched them when the children were asleep, Will and Lucy, who was terrified of zombies, had witnessed their father's rants about them on more than one occasion. "Maybe you should give me a zombie gun for Christmas so we'll be safe."

"In contrast to a BB gun, you mean?"

"Well, I've never gotten a C+ on an essay, so I think I deserve it. I'll give it to Dad to shoot the zombies."

"But what if you and Lucy get separated from us? You'll need some way to survive!"

"We'll close our eyes and put our arms out and pretend to be zombies. Oh, and we can probably break into Dad's diner and use the ketchup like blood, so the zombies don't get suspicious."

Lorelai laughed. After glancing over at his sleeping sister, Will turned back to his mom. In a voice that was very similar to the young Rory's whenever she had been concerned about her mother, Will said quietly, "Are you okay?"

Lorelai sighed. Though she hadn't told her kids all of the details, not wanting them to dislike Gigi if they ever came into contact with her again (something that seemed likely, seeing as it appeared an engagement for Rory was not far away), they had known she was upset. Will, in particular, was always sensitive to his mother's moods.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better," she said, forcing her voice to be more chipper. "I just wanted to say hello to my youngest child and one and only son, that's all."

"Right _now?"_

"Don't mock the time a mother's love clicks in!" Lorelai said with a pout. "I love you every moment of the day, even right now at one-thirty in the morning! Are you insinuating that I need to save my love for a later hour?"

Will giggled. Though he pretended to have inherited his father's grumpiness towards all of the insane things she said, his smiles and laughter always said otherwise. Not that Luke wasn't secretly amused by her, either.

Lorelai put her arm around her son's small shoulders and spoke in a softer tone. "I just wanted to tell you how much I love you-you and your sister both. You two have no idea how much you were wanted. Sometimes, I still have to pinch myself, I'm so happy."

Will snuggled into her embrace. "I love you, too."

"You know what? I think I should tell you the story of the day you were born. I know it's not your birthday yet, but it seems appropriate. What do you say, Will? Shall we break a tradition?"

Her son shrugged, his eyes now closed. "Maybe tomorrow night. I'm tired."

Lorelai chuckled, realizing how heavy her own eyes were. "Okay, little boy. We have a deal."

She gazed down at Will, who had placed his head on her shoulder. From the other bed, Lucy hugged Susannah Hoffs in her sleep. If Lorelai listened hard enough, she could almost make out Luke's snores from the other room.

She found herself thinking of Christopher. It was a shame that he had never gotten a chance to raise a child with a partner. With Gigi, he had been away on business trips before Sherry had left, and with Rory…well, she didn't even have to finish that thought. Her experience with Will and Lucy was so different, and she found herself wishing that all single parents would eventually get a chance to experience raising children the more traditional way. Maybe it would be good for Chris to marry his current girlfriend. Brat children or no brat children, it would probably do Gigi a lot of good to have a more stable female figure in her life.

Startling her out of her thoughts, Will spoke one more thing before he drifted off to sleep. "Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Do you think you could stay with me until I fall asleep? Don't tell her I said it, but Lucy's not the only one who hates zombies."

She tried her best not to laugh. "Of course, Will. I'll stay for as long as you need."

* * *

Rory was supportive when Lorelai called her early that morning, before they were set to meet for breakfast, to ask for Christopher's number. "I think it's great you're doing this," she said sincerely. "I'm really worried about Gigi, too. She hasn't even called me back, and I don't think she's ever been mad at me before."

"You don't think it will be awkward, with me talking to your dad again?"

Rory sighed on the other line. "Mom, I honestly do think it might be awkward. You have so much history together, and you already told me what running into him was like. But Dad needs to get over this. If he hasn't realized by now that you have your own life, then that's his fault, not yours. Anyway, you're doing it for Gigi. I'm sure he'll be flattered that you think of his daughter so highly."

"Really? He won't just hang up at me for daring to give my input on Gigi?"

Rory hesitated. "Well, I think there's a chance. Still, after Dad thinks about it for a while, I'm sure he'll realize you were doing the right thing."

"I guess you're right." Lorelai paused, realizing something. "You know, you didn't ask me whether I'd asked Luke. I mean, obviously I have, and he agrees that I need to do this, but still. It's something I thought you'd asked."

"I guess, Mom, the reason I didn't ask is because I knew I didn't have to anymore. You and Luke are so connected, and…" Rory laughed. "Well, I know this sounds corny, but you and Luke are my inspiration for being married someday. I think I have a lot to learn from you two."

Though touched by her daughter's words, Lorelai fell back on humor to lighten the situation. "Even with two breakups, one broken engagement, and a year apart?"

Rory's voice was firm. "Even with that. You learned to forgive each other, Mom. That's not something you can just teach."

Lorelai smiled, taking this. "Well, thanks, sweets. That means a lot."

After dialing Christopher's cell after ending her call with Rory, Lorelai soon became aware of an important fact: it was one thing to run into Christopher. Actually putting herself in a situation where she needed to speak with him was very different.

"Hello?"

Lorelai let out a breath. "Hey, Chris. It's me."


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Wow! 42 reviews in 4 chapters...plus 50 if you count the ones from BWR! Thank you so much. I never expected this story to be as popular as it did, and I know I couldn't have done it without you. Consider this gift a Valentine's present. I'm thinking there's about 3 chapters to follow. When we started this, I thought it would be 3 chapters long though, so my track record isn't that reliable.

Hope I did okay with the Christopher conversation. In particular, I am still skeptical about the FB message. I still see Lorelai thinking about Chris from time-to-time in my post-GG land (though not romantically) and wondering how he is doing. He is still her oldest friend, and they had a very strong friendship as children, which is why I have her hoping that he will find the same happiness as she has at a particularly happy moment in her life. I might not be a Christopher fan, but I still wanted to write Lorelai's and his friendship as realistically and sympathetically as possible (side note: I had a conversation with my dad, who has watched a few GG episodes while my mom and I monopolised the TV, about Christopher about a week ago. I believe he said something about liking Chris as a character-but not Lorelai's love interest-so we had a conversation about that. Of course, I also mentioned Luke, and my dad said, "Oh, I really like him," which made my day. Then again, I've had to tell my dad about a million times that Luke and Lorelai _aren't _married during the show...they're just engaged for a season and then they broke up...which always makes me sad. Though, they are married in this fic, so yay for that).

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day again, and remember: even if you are a fellow single, there are lots of people in your life who love you!

* * *

Christopher had never expected to hear Lorelai's voice on the phone again. After their last phone conversation where she had told him point blank that she couldn't do this anymore-that even staying friends would damage Luke's trust-he had given up on Lorelai ever calling him.

But here they were, ten years later, and Lorelai was calling him on the phone, having presumably gotten his number from Rory.

"Lor?" he stammered.

Lorelai was never one to pretend situations weren't awkward when they were, which was evident by her next statement. "Yeah, when it rains, it pours, right?"

He sighed and looked down. Though the last time he had checked, Gigi was wearing her headphones, she had turned the volume so loudly that he could still hear her music from the other room. "I didn't say that."

"But you were thinking that. I mean, here I am, like nine years after we last spoke, and I want to talk to you again. You have to be wondering why. I know I would if I were you."

"That's not what I was thinking," Christopher said, though this was a lie. "I'm pretty glad to hear from you, actually. It's been too long. I've-I've missed you."

There was a long pause between them. "Yeah, well…" said Lorelai, and she trailed off.

As another awkward pause settled between them, Christopher found himself thinking of Lorelai's two youngest children. The little girl in particular was the splitting image of Lorelai. Not only did she look remarkably similar to Lorelai as an adult, but more importantly, she was almost identical to Lorelai as a child. He could still remember how impish Lorelai's blue eyes had been as a little girl. Though Rory's blue eyes were also identical to Lorelai's, she lacked the outgoing enthusiasm and mischief that filled the eyes of both Lorelai and her youngest daughter.

He knew he was being an incredible hypocrite. Lorelai had adjusted to him having a daughter by someone else, so the least he could do was adjust to her children. Yet whereas the little girl was one thing to digest, there was also that little boy. He was so purely Luke's that it made Christopher's stomach curl. But he was also Lorelai's. Though the boy resembled his father the most and the girl resembled her mother, after looking past their initial traits, Christopher had found himself seeing both of their parents. It might have been easier to pretend that Will Danes belonged to his father and that Lucy was just another Gilmore girl, but that was not the case. They were both of their parents' children, and that was what hurt most of all.

He had told Gigi that after choosing Luke, there was no way Lorelai would have given up on their marriage. Though that was true, Christopher also knew that for Lorelai, the big decision hadn't been to marry him, but to trust him enough to father her children. He could still remember the way she had turned away from him, after he told her he wanted to make a baby. She hadn't wanted to have another child, a wedding party, or a new house, yet he knew that she had considered all of these things with Luke. For Lorelai, Luke represented stability, and there was no way he would ever compete.

He didn't know the details concerning Lorelai's pregnancy with Will. By the time he'd confronted her about it, after the infamous day where Gigi came home to announce that Lorelai was pregnant, she had already been married. Therefore, he had no idea whether she had gotten pregnant right after her marriage or if the pregnancy had been the reason for a wedding so soon after Luke's and her reunion. Still, Christopher knew that in some ways, he would be more hurt if the latter was true. It would not just mean that Lorelai had accepted Luke's marriage request after refusing Christopher's when they had been in the same situation. It would also mean that with Luke, she had let down her guard.

Even if Lorelai had said yes to making a baby that night, it would not have worked. She had been on the pill and had insisted on using condoms. Though he'd tried to assure her that she was safe-that _they _were safe-she had never hesitated to reach for the box of condoms lying on the nightstand. Every time the protection was put on, she got a distant gleam in her eyes, and he knew he'd lost her. Though it did not affect the sex much in the long run, he knew that for a moment, she was not thirty-eight, but sixteen. He'd tried to assure himself that Lorelai was like that with other guys too, but clearly, this was not the case. With Luke, she had been enough in the moment to conceive not one, but two children, and even if Will had been a Honeymoon baby, it would not decrease the fact that Lorelai had obviously been nowhere as anal about protection with Luke.

Shaking these thoughts aside, Christopher fixated his attention back to his phone call. "Is everything okay?" he said, wondering what had made Lorelai finally break her promise. "Is it Rory?"

Lorelai let out a breath. "No. Rory's fine. I actually wanted to talk to about Gigi."

For a moment, Christopher forgot Gigi was in the other room. He found himself flooded with terror in the same way he had been the other night, when Gigi had turned off her phone and refused to take any of his calls. "Gigi?" he said, closing his eyes after reminding himself that Gigi's loud music was evidence that his youngest daughter was okay. "What about her?"

Lorelai sighed. "I don't suppose Gigi told you that she and I spoke last night?"

"No," said Christopher, remembering that Gigi had been even more upset when he'd returned. Could something have happened that he hadn't been aware of? He gathered his thoughts. "Wait a second-Gigi _called_ you?"

"Actually, she called Rory," said Lorelai. "I picked up, and since Rory was in the middle of something, I ended up talking to her. I was making small talk, asking how you were doing, when she snapped. She told me that I was the responsible for the divorce and implied something about my abandoning her. She sounded really upset, Chris. I'm really worried about her."

Christopher reared back in surprise. His daughter had never defended him before, and most of the time, she snorted whenever anyone brought up his failed marriages. While he had heard Gigi parroting her grandmother about Lorelai being a harlot loud and clear, he hadn't expected her to lash out as Lorelai like that. Still, it was none of Lorelai's business if she had blamed her. Of course it was natural that a child would side with her dad, instead of some random woman she'd hardly known.

"Well, I don't really get what you want me to say to that, Lor," said Chris. "Are you asking me to ask Gigi to call you back and apologize? I saw the way that son of yours looked at me, so I could easily ask you to do the same."

"No, no!" Lorelai said quickly. "It's completely natural. April-my stepdaughter?-well, even though we bonded pretty quickly, I could tell in that first summer after Luke and I got back together that she was still a little wary about me, because she didn't want her dad to get hurt again. She pretty much flat-out told me how miserable her dad was and that there was no way she was letting him get hurt again. And Rory, when that thing with Luke and me started back when April first arrived on the scene? She went over to April's mom's shop to check things out. I was mad at her at first, but in retrospect, she just wanted to protect me. Of course it's natural that Gigi is blaming me. You're her father, and she loves you. I'd be worried if it was the other way around."

"But…?" he said, sensing he had missed something.

Lorelai inhaled deeply. "It's just, the way she started talking about me abandoning her? I…I think she was really talking about Sherry. Yes, I definitely should have said goodbye to her and made more of an effort to continue to include her in my life, since none of what happened was her fault, but that depth of her anger…it worried me, Chris. I could tell she was upset when she saw me earlier yesterday, and I don't know, I can't help wondering if she's transmitted some of her anger about Sherry on me."

Christopher's mind flashed to another time Lorelai had tried to offer parental advice, when Sherry had tried to reengage with Gigi again. "Sherry and Gigi have a wonderful relationship now. They see each other every break that Gigi has and talk at least three times a week-and it would be more, if there wasn't for the time change."

"Oh, I'm sure!" said Lorelai, with clear forced enthusiasm. "I think it's great that Sherry is more involved now. Every child needs a mother and a father, and even though you're a great father…well, it took courage for Sherry to have owned up to her mistake. But Chris, do you really think it's rational to think that Gigi has completely forgiven her mom for abandoning her those first two years? Sure things might be better now, but I know what it's like to have traumatizing experiences when you're younger. It took me a long, long time to get over some of my own childhood. As screwed up as my mom is, I still didn't want to blame her, because you know, she's my mom, and well, I know you felt that way about Straub, too. Though the situation with Sherry is completely different, I can't help wondering if Gigi's the same way."

"So basically, you're accusing me of not realizing that my kid might still be angry at her mother for something she did when Gigi was less than two," Christopher said. "And that apparently, I'm still angry at my dad for being a jerk, when he's been dead for twelve years."

"Chris, stop trying to put words into my mouth," said Lorelai, a little heatedly. "I just thought that as a concerned parent, you might want to know why your daughter was so upset. If it were Rory or April or Lucy or Will, _I_ would want to know."

Christopher could not help himself. "Oh, so that husband of yours has finally granted you access to his kid? Tell me, does he know you think of April so highly, or would he be threatened by your relationship with her? Speaking of which, does Luke even know you're talking to me or is this another secret that's gonna split up your relationship?"

Lorelai's tone was ripe with anger now. He hadn't heard her so angry since he didn't show up for her father's surgery. "Of course Luke knows how I feel about April! Since he feels the same way about Rory, I don't see why that's a problem. And as a matter of fact, he does know about this conversation. We talked about it before I called, and he agreed it would be a good idea-for _Gigi's_ sake, not yours."

"Well, good," said Christopher snidely. "You wouldn't want a thing like a hidden character reference to come between you two, would you?"

Lorelai paused. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean it's clear that Luke and you weren't good at communicating before, so it's good you're better now."

"No, I think you just implied that we're still not good at communicating and that we never resolved any of our issues from before."

"If you didn't resolve any of your issues from before, then that's your problem, not mine."

"And now you're putting words into my mouth again!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Look, Chris. I'm sorry I had the nerve to tell you I was worried about your daughter, but you don't have to lay ten years ago into me. Where's the Christopher who was sensitive to how awkward seeing each our again would be at Rory's graduation? Hell, even the Christopher who understood why we couldn't talk again would do. I thought you understood why things would have been too complicated. And even if you didn't, it's been nine years since that phone call-and a whole decade since our divorce! If you're still bitter about that, then that's a low, even for you."

"I didn't mean that," said Chris quietly, realizing how he sounded. "I'm-I'm sorry, Lor. You've just got to understand, being away from you like this? It's hurt. It hurts knowing that that man has all of you, and that I don't even have your friendship. Even talking once every few years would do."

Lorelai spoke just as quietly. "If I remember properly, it was you who ignored my Facebook request, not me."

Christopher stiffened, remembering the memory well. It had been a couple of years after the infamous phone call, and Christopher had had an especially bad day. He had been in the middle of a difficult business negotiation, when the school called to announce that G.G. (who had then gone by her initials instead of "Gigi," as she did now) had gotten sick with the stomach flu. Because of the business meeting, he hadn't been able to pick her up. Since the current nanny was on her Honeymoon, he asked his mother to take G.G. home.

By the time he came home late that night, all Christopher wanted was to go to sleep. Unfortunately, his day was not about to get any better. As soon as he entered the house, his mother laid into him about not being able to put aside his work for his daughter-an incredibly ironic feat, seeing as Francine had never been there for him, either. Apparently, G.G. had spent the entire day crying for her father, and Francine had gotten sick of it. Though she had finally gotten G.G. to bed, her anger had not diminished. She put Christopher over the edge with five frightening words: "You're just like your father."

In the moments before Christopher logged onto to Facebook in an attempt to distract himself, he found himself wishing for a partner-a true partner to pick up some of the slack, so that he wasn't forced to do everything alone. Someone who wasn't his mother. Nannies were useful, but Christopher missed waking up in bed next to someone and smelling freshly made coffee in the kitchen. He had dated a couple of women since Lorelai, but none had compared with her. They had not even come close.

Therefore, upon navigating to Facebook, Christopher was shocked by a friend request from the very person he had been thinking of. Though the name was now "Lorelai Gilmore-Danes" instead of simply "Lorelai Gilmore," in his mind, she was still the Lorelai Gilmore he had always known. But upon clicking on her Facebook and getting an enlarged profile picture, he was startled to see a tiny pink bundle in Lorelai's arms. After he clicked on her profile picture, he found a caption underneath it that read, _Lucy Victoria Gilmore Danes, 2/17/10. Our youngest daughter._

Christopher had found his heart beating very quickly. The comments below, gushing about how much the baby resembled Lorelai and Luke, did not help. Just like Rory had not told him about her mother's marriage and previous pregnancy, she had not told him about this. _Our _youngest daughter. Hers and Luke's. Lucy Danes.

The similarity between the names "Luke" and "Lucy" was unmistakable. Knowing Lorelai, she had probably tried to pressure Luke into naming her previous child after him (Christopher vaguely remembered something about that one being a boy), but had chosen a name similar to Luke for the girl, when Luke had resisted.

He had been so preoccupied by the friend request that he had not noticed the message in Facebook mailbox. Christopher took in a breath when he saw the message's sender. With shaking hands, he clicked on his messages. Then, he read the letter.

_Dear Chris,_

_Four days ago, my youngest, Lucy, was born. She's a beautiful baby, and everyone says she's the splitting image of me. I don't know, though-while the conceited part of me would like it to be true (she does for a fact have my dark curls, but who knows how they'll change when she gets older?), you know what everyone says. I mean, everyone said Rory looked like me too, and while I guess she does (besides your earlobes, haha), the biggest similarity between us appearance wise is really the eyes and the ability to stay thin while consuming massive amounts of junk food. She's definitely her own person, and I hope Lucy will be, too._

_I suppose you're wondering why I'm telling you this. God knows, I don't blame you. It's been two years, and I hope you still aren't putout by the way I ended things with our last phone call. Still, when I had Lucy, I found myself starting to remember G.G.'s birth. Lucy was early too, and I can still remember your excitement after G.G. was born. I don't know how G.G. is doing now, but I sincerely hope she's doing well. She's such a sweet girl, and I hope that when her birthday approaches, you'll tell her about the day she was born. While Rory's told me things with Sherry are better now, I'm sure when she gets older, there will still be a little part of her that blames herself for her parents' failed marriage; I know this, because Rory felt responsible, too. At the very least, G.G. should always know how happy her dad was to have her. _

_I also started thinking about Rory's birth. Maybe it's the fact that Will, my middle child, is a boy or something, but Lucy and Rory already have a lot in common. Rory also came completely without warning, contrary to Will, who came more or less close to his due date. Luke and I barely had a chance to drop Will off at Sookie's, before rushing to the hospital and letting our families know about the new baby on the way (yes, I even called my parents. Shocker, huh?). Lucy was even born at around the same time Rory was-four fifteen-which was so bizarre I still can't comprehend it. _And _it snowed (okay, it's February, but still). Luckily, I wasn't in labor with Lucy for as long as Will and Rory…there are benefits to your third child…but there are more similarities than not. _

_When the doctor said, "Congratulations, it's a girl!"(we didn't know the sex ahead of time) for a moment, I wasn't nearing forty-two, but sixteen. All I could think about was how this girl was going to have such a different life than her older sister. I mean, with Will, it was different enough. But here's Lucy, this little girl, who doesn't just have me, but a dad, two older sisters, a grandfather and grandmother, two first cousins, a crazy aunt and uncle, a crazy dog, _and _a big brother. Lucy and Will's lives are certainly different, all right. _

_I'm not saying this to blame you. Rory loves you, and I know you're a great dad to G.G., too...I can't comprehend what it would have been like to explain to such a little girl about the situation with her mother. And, um, living with your mom? VERY brave! Obviously, as we both know, if I'd really wanted to avoid being a single mom I could have married you much, much sooner. But as I sat in that bed holding Lucy, with all my family surrounding me, namely Luke, Rory, April, and Will, I found myself thinking about how far I've come since that single mom, so intent to do everything by herself. And you know, that's what really led me to thinking about you, more than the similarities between Gigi's and Rory's births. Here you are, a single dad, and I know firsthand how difficult that is (well, not the dad part, but you know what I mean). And I found myself wishing things would be better for you, too._

_Chris, I'm not so conceited to think that you still have feelings for me after these years. I truly believe that there is a woman out there who is right for you, and I also believe that I am far from being that woman. But I also had a long talk with Luke, and he agreed that I should at least make this tiny gesture to reach out via Facebook. Yes, Chris, Luke feels badly for you. I don't think we can ever go back to the friendship we had, but I just want you to know, when being a single dad get loneliest, that there is someone out there who understands what it's like (again, just not the dad part-I also imagine that being a single dad to a girl is harder, so kudos to you). And I'm thinking about you. Maybe not in the way I used to, but I truly, truly want you to be happy. And that maybe, whether it's kids of her own (your future woman's), G.G., or kids of both of yours, you get to experience what I have, too. Maybe I sound like I'm rubbing it in, but…I don't know. I just want you to be happy. You truly deserve that._

_Another thing: Chris, I'm sorry I hurt you. It was low of me, and God, I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that. But the thing is, Chris, if a friendship between us is going to work-even a friendship of the virtual sort-than you need to accept my life the way it is now, too. I don't want to feel guilty whenever I'm posting news pics of my kids and Luke. I want us both to accept each other, the way we are now. Because I truly believe that deep down inside, just like I was happy for you when G.G. was born, you're happy that my life has worked out, too._

_So, post lots of pics of G.G. I can't wait to see how your daughter's growing up._

_Your friend (soon to be of the virtual quality),_

_-Lorelai_

After reading the letter, Christopher had navigated to one of Lorelai's public Facebook albums entitled, "We Love Lucy". There, he was able to find a picture that fit the scene Lorelai had described. A flushed Lorelai, who had dark circles under her eyes, was cradling a baby in her arms. She did indeed have her mother's dark hair, which stood out against her fair skin. Sitting on the bed was a brown haired toddler, who looked overwhelmed by the situation he had found himself in. On the opposite side from where the little boy was sitting stood Rory and April, who was about three inches shorter than her stepsister. Both were grinning. In spite of their lack of biological connection, the two looked more like sisters than Rory and G.G. did.

And course there was Luke. He had one hand on Lorelai's shoulder and the other on the shoulder of his little boy. On his face was the biggest smile Christopher had ever seen…a remarkable feat, considering Chris had never seen Luke smile before. But it wasn't a "Ha, ha, look how lucky I am!" smile, as Christopher would have liked to think. Instead, it was a smile that said simply, "I'm happy, and by God, I don't care who knows it."

He knew it had been a mature decision for Lorelai to send this message. Especially on hard days like today, it was nice to know that there was someone out there who had gone through the same thing he had (albeit without a live-in mother to add to the mix), and he did appreciate the update from his oldest friend. Still, Lorelai had given him too much credit. He _hadn't _stopped having feelings for Lorelai, even after their divorce, three years ago. And it _did _still hurt to see Lorelai with her family, when he still wished she belonged to G.G. and him. As much as he wanted otherwise, he knew he would not be able to easily accept the fact that Lorelai had a family with someone else. On days like today especially, seeing pictures of Lorelai, Luke, and their two children-plus Rory, who looked so much more at home with her mother's family than she ever had with his-would only tear him apart.

So instead of accepting the friend request and Lorelai's virtual friendship, Christopher had hit "Ignore". It was his last contact with Lorelai Gilmore-Danes until the meeting at Fao Schwarz.

Now, he was on the phone with Lorelai again, and the ignored Facebook request had been brought up for the first time. He could always say that it was an accident, but both would know that this was a lie. It certainly wasn't hard to re-request someone, after all.

"I don't know, Lor," he said finally, deciding on the truth. "I guess I wasn't ready then."

Lorelai paused for a few minutes. "You know, Chris, I remember what I said in that note. I've always wanted you to be happy. And I don't think we can even continue talking once every nine years if you're still not going to accept my kids and husband. They're my life, Chris. Maybe you still wish things had been different, but they are my life. Hiding them or trying not to feel guilty every time I bring them up would just be too difficult."

"Look, Lor, I see what you're saying," Chris said grudgingly. "It's just that you can't come in here, without any real contact for nine years, and then try to change my life. I mean, you haven't seen Gigi since she was a little girl! Of course she's confused."

"But I was just trying to help…"

"I know, Lorelai. But she's my daughter, not yours." He suddenly realized how similar his words probably were to Luke's, back when he had shut Lorelai out of April's life. "I-I just can't do this. I get what you're saying, but it's…hard. And you really don't know Gigi, at least not the way I do. So can you appreciate it when I say that I don't want you meddling anymore?"

It took a few moments to respond. "Okay, Chris. Just please have her call me back if she wants to talk to me."

His stomach tightened. "Goodbye Lor…elai."

The phone call ended. He would have liked to say that the fact Lorelai still cared about his daughter had made him feel better, but now, he found himself wishing she didn't.

* * *

Gigi was halfway through one of her favorite songs when she heard her dad referring to someone as "Lor". She froze, recognizing the nickname from their run-in at Fao Schwarz. After lowering the volume of her music down, she listened into the conversation. She couldn't hear the discussion well, and she had no idea what Lorelai was saying, but she had had heard enough.

When at last her father's voice drowned out, signifying that the conversation had ended, Gigi crept into her father's room. There he was, his gaze cast downwards, looking a lot more bedraggled than she had seen him in a long time.

Gigi's heart skipped a beat. In that moment, she wasn't a thirteen-year-old, but the same little girl who had been tuned in to her father's every mood. Without an instant of hesitation, she sat on the bed next to her father and embraced him with all the energy she had. After a few moments, Christopher hugged her back. And for the first time, Gigi felt just a little less envious of Lucy Danes.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: The reviews for the last chapter were amazing! Thank you so, so much. I've gotten differing opinions about Lorelai's letter, which was great. I love it when people wonder whether characters did the right thing or not (not that I don't have any responsibility as a writer, either!). I don't know if any of you have seen _Prancer_, the movie my fictional Danes (plus Rory-oh, how I love to be able to put Lorelai under the "Danes" heading, sappy as I am!) clan watch in this chapter, but I wanted to include it because it has special meaning to me, since I used to live in the town next to where it was filmed (and had actually visited the town where it was filmed lots of times). Since I live in AZ now, it's always fun to watch it to see a "Michigan Christmas" (which is actually a song. Seriously). Two more chapters to go after this one.

I've had a few people ask me whether I plan to write about Luke/Lorelai's other exes meeting their family, since this story is a bit of a companion to another oneshot, "Blue Eyes and Coffee," which features Lucy running into Max Medina. The answer is YES. I initially was going to write the Rachel story first, but I have a little bit of writer's block on it (please tell me if you have any suggestions for the premise!), so I'm writing my Nicole one for the time-being. I also have an idea about an off-shoot about Dean (though I do not think I will be writing about Rory's exes, especially since running into your step-cousin is pretty anti-climatic!). I have so many writings going on, including other GG fics and an original novel where I'm in the baby stages of, but hopefully, I will get those up soon.

Btw, my awesome mom just bought me a copy of _Health_, which featured Lauren Graham...who does indeed eat healthy in real life (like that's any surprise!). I've always suspected she did (there's a reason _Gilmore Girls_ is a TV show!), but it's funny to see it in print. Just imagine Lorelai Gilmore being interviewed for _Health_: "The key to looking like me is to never exercise or eat healthy foods, unless it's in the form of an apple in one of my mother's apple tarts. Or an apple when I'm pregnant. But obviously, the pregnancy thing is probably not the way to go, seeing as my figure definitely wasn't at its best then. Also, drinking lots of coffee is a must." Cue the steam coming out of Luke's ears. Haha.

* * *

Sometimes, the best thing one can do in the face of personal angst is to recognize the pain of someone else. As someone who had been a parent for the better part of her life, Lorelai knew this better than anyone.

As soon as the phone call ended, she told Luke what had happened. He was unsurprisingly upset at the way Christopher had treated her, but calmed down after Lorelai pointed out that getting angry at Chris wasn't worth it. Rory was also upset with her father when Lorelai called her after telling Luke, but pointed out grimly, "You knew this might happen."

She tried to put on a brave face for her youngest children, but she caught Will glancing up at her a few times. Still, for the most part, she was able to distract them with the events of the day. Rory's boyfriend, who had been away on business, was snowed in, and April was spending the holidays with her mother's family, so it was a smaller Christmas than usual. Lorelai liked it this way. Though she missed April, and she wished for Rory's sake that her boyfriend was present, it was nice to have a Christmas away from her parents and Liz and T.J. She loved Doula, had grown to love Liz, and had come to tolerate T.J., but Christmas with Luke's family was always more exhausting.

That day, they spent time at Rory's apartment, putting the finishing touches on the tree and making popcorn garlands (for this, Lorelai did miss Liz, since as a jewelry maker, her garlands were always original and inspiring). They also added frosting to the batch of cookies Luke had made, though Will, who had inherited the artistic gene from his aunt, had decorated the cookies far better than the other five. Rory had done all right too, but Lucy's looked like any other six-year-old girl's, and Lorelai had played on the philosophy that the amount of frosting was more important than the actual design. Luke, for his part, had only frosted a few cookies, before grumbling that he had done enough work baking the cookies and making the frosting.

The point in the day that Lorelai's parental wisdom came out in the open happened after dinner. They had gone out a neighborhood spot, and Lucy slipped on some ice on the way back to Rory's apartment. Instantly, Lucy was no longer the happy six-year-old who had been looked forward to watching _Prancer_, but a little girl whose tears rivaled Veruca Salt's. She had torn her tights and skimmed her knee quite badly, and even Will was concerned about his little sister.

As soon as Lucy fell, Lorelai swooped in overprotective parent mood, but Lucy would have none of it. Instead, she clung to Luke, who, in her mind, was the only person who could make everything better. Though upon reaching Rory's apartment, Lucy answered Lorelai's and Rory's inquiries of how she was feeling, it was Luke who was called on to ice her knee. When the movie began, Lucy snuggled up close to her father on Rory's leather chair, instead of joining her siblings and mother on the couch. Luke himself was so preoccupied with his youngest daughter that he did not even go into his customary movie rant.

Lorelai watched the scene between her husband and youngest child with interest. Though she had become accustomed to the close father-daughter relationship between Lucy and her namesake, she often found herself comparing and contrasting Lucy's childhood with Rory's. Will was equally close to both parents, but although Lucy also loved spending time with her mother, she was clearly a daddy's girl. Even when Lorelai had been pregnant, Lucy had always seemed to respond to Luke's voice. Seven years later, this had not changed.

It hadn't been like that at all with Rory. Though she had never hesitated to rush into her father's arms, he had never seen her at her worst. Rory was always on special behavior around her father, and the first time she had ever lashed out at him was after Sherry got pregnant, when Rory was almost eighteen. In contrast, Luke had seen Lucy through bad and good-through tantrums and through hugs. Will's gender and similar bookish, reserved nature usually kept Lorelai from comparing Rory's and his childhoods, but she was unable to stop comparing the childhoods of her two daughters.

At the point in the movie where Jessie first met Prancer, Will, who was sitting in-between his mother and older sister, snuggled into Lorelai's shoulder. "I love you, Mom," he whispered into her ear.

Lorelai felt herself beginning to smile. Though she was honestly not bothered by the way Lucy had ignored Lorelai in favor of her father, she appreciated Will's sensitivity in making sure that she was all right. He was so much like Rory as a child that way. His blue eyes, identical to Luke's, were fixated on her, and she drew her son into a hug.

"I love you, too," she said into his hair. "You're the best son a mom could ask for."

"I'm your only son," Will reminded her, a phrase they had perfected over the years. After Lucy was born, Lorelai had made a special effort to remind Will how special he was, aware that he often felt left out with three sisters and a girl cousin (having a boy cousin in the form of Jess, because of his age and the fact that he was not around as much, did not balance things out much). Though a tinge of his father's trademark sarcasm had filled Will's voice, she knew he appreciated the reminder of how much his mom loved him.

"That doesn't stop you from being as perfect as a son could be," Lorelai said softly.

Lucy, who had calmed down slightly, frowned at the television. She had been sucking her thumb, a habit she had mostly outgrown, but still went back to whenever she was upset. Though he had already explained to Lucy the disadvantages of sucking her thumb after a recent dentist appointment, this time, Luke had obviously not had the heart to tell her to stop.

"You would never do that to me, would you?" Lucy asked him. "Send me to live with Auntie Liz and Uncle T.J. and let Will live with you, if Mommy died?"

The whole room took a collective breath. The father in the film had been considering sending his daughter to live with her aunt so that she would have a female influence, something that seemed to have worried Lucy. Sensing that this was a serious discussion, Rory paused the movie.

Luke glanced at his wife, eyebrows raised. After Lorelai nodded at him to take control of this situation, Luke took a deep breath. "Lucy, of course not. You know, I got partial custody of April before your mom and I got married, and I was okay with her staying with me. Her being a girl didn't change that." He smirked in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. "Besides, do you really think I'd let you be raised by your Uncle T.J.?"

Lucy giggled. "I guess not."

Just as Rory prepared to resume the film, Lucy spoke again, her Lorelai blue eyes even wider than before. It often amused Lorelai that though Will's eyes were from his father, both of her daughters had inherited her blue eyes. "But what about Rory and her dad? Would he have taken care of her or seen her more if she was a boy?"

The room was even stiller than before. Luke's jaw had begun to tighten, Will was staring at his younger sister, and Rory had tensed.

"Lucy, how do you know about that?" Lorelai said, racking her brain, trying to remember if they had ever talked about Christopher in detail with their two younger children.

Lucy shrugged. "I heard you and Daddy talking about it today, after you told him about the call with Rory's dad. Daddy said something like it wasn't a surprise that he didn't know how to take care of Gigi, when he'd never seen Rory when she was younger."

Rory spoke, her gaze drifting between both of her younger siblings. "Lucy, you know that our mom and my dad were very young when they had me."

"Sixteen," said Lucy, nodding.

"Right. Suffice to say, I was a…surprise, not like your brother and you were." Will had actually also been conceived before Luke and Lorelai got married, but Lorelai was grateful that Rory had not added this particular fact. "And you know, they didn't get married until much, much later. Since they weren't married, my dad had no reason to see me every day, either. While there are some fathers, like your dad, who are willing to be there for their children even if they aren't married"-she smiled at Luke, who smiled back-"my dad, being sixteen, took a long time before he grew up enough to the point where he wanted to be my father. My being a girl had nothing to do with it. Even if I had been a boy, it wouldn't have made much difference. It was his maturity that stopped him, not my gender. You understand that?"

"So you mean if he was more grown up, then he would have seen you more, if you were boy or still a girl?"

"Exactly."

She frowned. "But what about Gigi? Is he a better dad to her?"

Lorelai sighed, realizing that hiding her phone conversations with Christopher and Gigi had not been able to cease her youngest children's worry. This discussion was beginning to hit closer to home than she would have liked.

"My dad was a lot older when he had Gigi," Rory said after a short pause. "Actually, I really admire what he's done for Gigi. There were a few years where Gigi's mom didn't have any contact with her, so it really took a lot on his part to raise Gigi and keep up with his demanding job."

"Gigi's mom who lives in Paris?" Lucy said incredulously.

Rory nodded grimly. "That's the one."

"She didn't see Gigi for two whole years? How come?"

Lorelai nudged her oldest daughter. It had taken Rory a long time to become comfortable with children, and though Rory was now a pro around Steve, Kwan, Doula, and her two youngest siblings, Lorelai still knew that this was a conversation usually left to a child's parents. Rory, however, ignored her mother's look, before returning her focus to her youngest sibling.

"Lucy, what you have to understand is that not everyone has parents like your brother and you. Not everyone is meant to be a mother, and I'm afraid Gigi's mom was one of these people. She's a much better mother now, just like my dad is to me, but she had to do some growing up, too. It's like…uh…well, Ursula. You wouldn't want her having a kid of her own, would you?"

Lucy smiled. "I guess not."

Lorelai felt herself relaxing, assured that they had finally gotten over the hurdle, but her youngest daughter had another surprise in store. Just as Rory was about to un-pause the television again, Lucy said, "But Mommy and your dad got married when you were a grownup. He still can't be very grownup and nice, or else she would have stayed married."

Lorelai's heart skipped a beat. Apparently, the conversation hadn't reached its peak yet.

Will was shooting his sister a look. "Lucy! You don't say things like that!"

Lucy frowned. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"Lucy, your brother actually has a good point," Luke said, interrupting the skirmish before it could develop into a full-blown fight. He put his hand over his daughter's shoulder. "He's Rory's dad, sweetie. It's not nice to say bad things about other people's parents to them, okay? I've been guilty of it too, but it's still not right."

Lucy bit her lip. After casting a look at her oldest sister, Lucy walked over and engulfed Rory in a hug. "I'm sorry, Rory," she said softly.

Rory hugged Lucy back, in a tight embrace. "It's okay, Lucy. You didn't know." She turned to Will. "Hey, Will. Sandwich hug?"

Grinning, Will joined his sisters in their embrace.

After the hug had finished, the other four focused their gaze on Lorelai. In particular, Luke had clear concern in his eyes. Her heart was still pounding, and she knew that her silence had already given away that she was upset.

"Mommy?" said Lucy softly. "I-I know he's Rory's dad, but wasn't mean to you, was he?"

Lorelai took a deep breath. She patted to the spaces on each side of her, so that each of her younger children had a spot on either side of her. When Will and Lucy came to sit down, she put an arm around each of their shoulders. She already felt a little better, with her youngest children in her arms.

"Lucy, Will, I think it's time the three of us had a talk."

* * *

Gigi sat still, moving around her mushroom ravioli with her fork. For Christmas Eve's dinner, she and her father had joined Jane and her kids at an upscale Italian restaurant in Manhattan. She sighed deeply, watching as Jane attempted to explain to Bradley that his plain penne pasta was not very different from macaroni and cheese.

"So, Gigi, I feel like I haven't had a chance to catch up with you yet," said Jane brightly, after Bradley finally decided to share Brie's tortellini. Gigi glanced at her father, wondering what he had told her about why she had missed the other night. "How's everything going? I bet you're glad to have time off from school."

Gigi shrugged and took a sip of her Shirley Temple. She would have felt better about her drink if Brie hadn't ordered the same thing. "I guess so. I'm pretty ready to start high school next year, so the school work hasn't been too bad."

"Yes, your father's told me how you plan to attend Princeton," Jane said. She flinched, wondering if he had also told her how much her grandmother had nagged her to do just that. "Very impressive. When I was your age, I had no idea what I wanted to do."

For at least the dozenth time that day, Gigi found herself thinking of her older sister. Though she knew it was up to her to return Rory's call, it hurt to think of Rory, perfectly content with her _other_ family. "I don't know. My older sister wanted to go to an Ivy League for way longer than I did, so I don't think it's that impressive, really. A lot of kids in my class want to go to Harvard or Yale."

"Well, your dad is very lucky to have two smart girls," Jane said, smiling at Christopher. Though he smiled back, Gigi recognized the guilt that always fell over his face whenever someone mentioned his oldest daughter. "I can't wait to meet Rory someday. From all that you and your dad have told me, she sounds just wonderful. I have to say, even before I met your dad, I was always impressed by her articles in the Times. She's a truly gifted writer."

"Well, you can't meet her this time around, because she's spending Christmas with her mother's family," Gigi said. She and her father exchanged brief glances at these words. "I guess you could always just call her up and offer to meet her somewhere, since you live in the same city, but that might be awkward, seeing as you've never met before."

Jane chuckled, missing Gigi's sarcasm. "True."

Brie interrupted the conversation by complaining about one of the vegetables in her tortellini dish, but Jane turned back to her after they had ordered their desserts. "We're so excited to have you and your father here for holidays. I just love Christmas, don't you?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Gigi found herself answering. "Not really," she said, shrugging.

Jane's eyebrows shot up, and even Christopher looked up in surprise. "Come on, Gigi, you love Christmas," he said enticingly. "The cookies and the presents…what's not to like?"

"No, I don't!" Gigi snapped. It was annoying that her father thought she was making this up, just because of her feelings about Jane. She went on with even more vigor than before, ignoring the wide-eyed looks Brie and Bradley were shooting at her. "Christmas's just an over commercialized holiday about a religion we don't even really celebrate, about a guy who probably wasn't even born in December to begin with. Caitlin and I were talking about this, and she says the only reason Christmas is in December is because the Christians wanted to compete with the pagan holiday happening at the same time or something. I don't like Christmas! In fact, I hate it!"

She was disgusted to feel tears pooling up in her eyes. She had been on the edge about everything else happening, and that, combined with a case of PMS, had finally caused her to crack. Her father gaped at her, but it was Jane who made the first mood.

Very softly, in a sweeter tone than anyone else had ever used after Gigi's outbursts, she said, "Was there ever a Christmas, anytime, that you enjoyed?"

Gigi bit her lip. A memory of a Christmas she had tried hard to suppress came whirling back to her. Decorating cookies. Wearing reindeer headbands. Stringing garlands. Tasting the cookies and ripping open the presents and watching movies and everything feeling so warm and content and _right_…

"Gigi?" her dad said quietly.

She swallowed very hard. Crying would not do her any good. It would only draw attention to the significance of this memory, and Gigi wasn't read to have a conversation about it just yet. Trying hard not to look at her father, she met Jane's brown eyes. Her voice came out very soft.

"The Christmas I was three."

* * *

There was a long, collective silence after Lorelai finished recounting the story of Christopher's and her brief marriage. She had told both children the story of their parents' romance thousands of times, but she had never told it quite like this. Though she had skipped the part about sleeping with Christopher and had painted their father's side in a very sympathetic manner, she hadn't gone into as much depth about Luke's and her infamous breakup. Even Rory and Luke seemed to have taken in the story.

Finally, Lucy broke the silence. She had huddled up against her mother's shoulder, looking a great deal smaller than her six-and-a-half years of age. "But then you and Daddy got back together, and we all lived happily-ever-after?"

"They kissed," said Will quietly. They all looked at him, surprised that the eight-year-old boy had remembered this, when normally, romance was something he abhorred. Flushing slightly, he said, "I mean…you've told the story so many times before, and…you sang that song to Dad before, right? And then Dad made that party for Rory, and then you kissed again."

Lucy grinned. "That's right! And then you and Daddy got back together and got married that December, and then you had Will, and then me."

"Mom, Luke?" Rory said softly, as Lorelai and Luke took a few moments to smile at each other, each distinctively remembering the joy of first getting their middle after everything that had transpired before.

Lorelai was snapped out of her daze. "That's right," she said, smiling at the two children on either side of her. "I was single for a few months after Rory's dad and I got divorced, since I wasn't sure if your dad still had feelings for me, but then he had that party for Rory, and I knew." She met her husband's gaze again, then chuckled to lighten the mood. "You know, you're both getting so good at remembering the story that I bet you could tell it yourselves."

Lucy looked like she was on the verge of beginning the story herself, so Will interrupted her by shooting her a look. "Mom? You still loved Dad…even when you were married to Rory's dad?"

Lorelai sighed, still feeling ashamed after all these years. "I know it was wrong, Will, and I hope you and Lucy-and both of your older sisters, for that matter, though I know that all of you are a lot smarter than I was-won't ever do a thing like that. You just have to understand that I was so heartbroken after your dad and I split that I thought I would never be happy again. This definitely doesn't excuse it from happening, but being with Rory's dad made me feel less lonely. It was easier to pretend I wasn't still heartsick over your dad's and my breakup than to give into the feelings and admit that I was."

"You know, your mom wasn't the only one," Luke said. "I, uh, can't say that I was happy she married Rory's dad, but I did the same thing, a little before your mom and I got together the first time. You know that I was married to a woman named Nicole. I liked her a lot, sure, but a big part of the reason we got married is because I never thought I would have a chance with your mom. I know you two are too young to think about it just now, but settling for someone is never a good idea."

"You two are lucky," Rory said, in the low voice that she used when reading to her siblings. "I don't know if you can see it just yet, but your parents had a love story for the ages. They loved each other so much that they were willing to give each other a second and third chance to work things out, and not just everyone does that. I don't know about you, but personally, I think that's a whole lot more admirable than any whirlwind romance that was portrayed in a Disney movie…or even Han Solo and Princess Leia, Will."

"But what about parents who get divorced?" Will said, still frowning. "I-I know you guys love each other, but Sammy Silverman told everyone his parents had loved each other, too." He glanced at his sister, who had adopted her brother's frown. "You won't breakup again, will you?"

A tear fell onto Lorelai's cheek. Luke's and her year apart had stopped them from ever taking each other for granted, but she felt herself pounded with how lucky she and Luke really were. She had found her soul mate. Yes, it had taken a long time to marry him and even more work to keep him, but now she had him. So many people, Christopher included, were still searching for their soul mates or dealing with a marriage gone wrong. For all that she had gone through, at least she was not one of these people.

She kissed Will on top of his head. "Will, your dad and I love each other, really love each other. While it's true that we've had some rough spots over the years, at the end of the day, I always remember how much I love him. I assume he feels the same way." She met Luke's gaze, who nodded and looked down, not as secure about admitting his feelings in front of other people. "I might not know what will happen in the future, but I can promise you that your dad and I learned a valuable lesson from our year apart, and that no matter what happens, we will work through it." She smirked, filling with enormous love for her husband. "Besides, I think we've broken up enough. Does that answer your question?"

Will grinned wide, and his eyes began to sparkle. "Yeah. I think it does."

If the room had been filled with adults (or even adults and the mature Will), they would have all taken a few minutes of reflecting before speaking, but this wasn't the case with a vivacious six-year-old. Seeming to have completely forgotten the gravity of the conversation, Lucy pointed to the T.V. screen.

"Can we watch more now?" she asked. "I really, really want to see what happens next."

They all laughed. "Sure, sweetie," said Lorelai. "I think you've been patient enough."

* * *

Though he had tried to engage Gigi in conversation after they made their way back to the hotel, Gigi was resistant. Instead, she went into her bedroom without a further word. He heard the shower running a few minutes later. When he went in to check on her, a half hour later, Christopher found her completely out. Her breaths were so even that he knew she was not faking. He took a few minutes to observe his sleeping daughter, taking in the way her blonde hair had spread out on the pillow.

He had never admitted it aloud, but Lorelai was his inspiration as a parent. He had no way of knowing what she was like with her youngest children, but with Rory, she had been caring, fun loving, and always there for Rory, no matter what. From Lorelai, he had learned a critical rule of parenthood: one needed to put aside their personal feelings for the sake of their child. It was not a rule Christopher was always good at following, but this time, he was determined to give following the rule a better shot. He loved Gigi. And despite everything, he was willing to do anything to decrease his daughter's pain.

After closing Gigi's door, he took out his phone and hit number "three" on his speed dial option. Rory answered immediately, sounding out of breath. "Dad, I really want to talk to you, but I'm in the middle of watching a movie. Do you think this could possibly wait?"

His voice was uncharacteristically firm. "Rory, I get that, but I really need to talk to you-_now_. I know your mother's probably told you what happened and that you're upset at me...god knows, I wouldn't blame you...but that's not about this. It's about Gigi. If you care about your sister, please let me talk."


End file.
